New study ranks Wisconsin in bottom half of states for innovation

With the U.S. spending over $600 billion per year on research and development — more than any other country in the world and more than 25% of the world’s total — the personal-finance website WalletHub has released a report on 2023’s Most and Least Innovative States, and Wisconsin finds itself coming in at No. 30 on the list.

In order to recognize the nation’s biggest contributors, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 22 key indicators of innovation-friendliness, from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita to tech-company density.

Of the states bordering Wisconsin, only Iowa ranked lower, at No. 43. Michigan (18), Minnesota (21), and Illinois (25) all made it into the top half of the rankings.