We were under the impression that Iowa did fairly well when it gets measured up against the rest of the U.S., but that's not the reality according to a new WalletHub analysis. In fact, WalletHub placed Iowa on the list of 'Least Innovative States'. WHAT!?

With the President proposing the deepest budget cuts to federal research and development in history for 2018, the personal-finance website WalletHub conducted an in-depth analysis of 2017’s Most & Least Innovative States.

In order to give credit to the states that have contributed the most to America’s innovative success, WalletHub’s analysts compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 18 key metrics. The data set ranges from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita to average Internet speed.

Most Innovative States

  • District of Columbia
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Washington
  • Virginia
  • Utah
  • Connecticut
  • New Hampshire

Least Innovative States

  • Maine
  • South Dakota
  • Iowa - Ranked 44th out of 51
  • Tennessee
  • North Dakota
  • Oklahoma
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • West Virginia

Key Stats

  • The District of Columbia has the highest share of STEM professionals, 9.4 percent, 2.8 times higher than in Mississippi and Nevada, which have the lowest at 3.3 percent each.
  • Virginia has the highest share of technology companies, 7.52 percent, 3.9 times higher than in West Virginia, which has the lowest at 1.95 percent.
  • New Mexico has the highest research and development (R&D) intensity, 6.31 percent, 19.7 times higher than in Wyoming, which has the lowest at 0.32 percent.
  • The District of Columbia has the fastest average Internet speed, 22.47 Mbps, 2.1 times faster than in Idaho, which has the slowest at 10.65 Mbps.
  • The District of Columbia has the highest share of public high-school students who completed advanced-placement (AP) exams, 60.2 percent, 4.4 times higher than in North Dakota, which has the lowest at 13.8 percent.

Source: WalletHub

Click HERE for the full report and more statistics.

(Movieclips - YouTube)

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