WalletHub: Texas 15th most innovative state

​​​​​​​​​​WASHINGTON – Texas is the 15th most innovative state with a 47.58 score on WalletHub’s State Innovation Index.

The Lone Star State ranks 14th in innov​​​​​​​​​ation environment and 18th in human capital. 

Texas also ranks:

• 18th in share of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) professionals;​​​

• 14th in projected STEM job demand by 2020;

• 27th in eighth-grade math and science performance;

• 25th in share of science and engineering graduates aged 25 or older;

• 14th in share of technology companies;

• 31st in research and development spending per capita; and 

• 17th in venture-capital funding per capita. 

Massachusetts is the most innovative state on the list. Mississippi ranks last.

To compile the rankings, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key indicators of innovation-friendliness. The data set ranges from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita to tech-company density. 

The United States ranks sixth on the Global​ Innovation Index. The nation will spend an estimated $581 billion on research and development, more than any other country in the world and about 25 percent of the world’s total.