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Chapter 8. State Indicators

Financial Research and Development Outputs

Federal R&D Obligations per Employed Worker



Findings

  • Federal R&D obligations have increased from about $82 billion in 2001 to about $132 billion in 2011, an increase of 60%.
  • In 2011, federal R&D obligations per civilian worker were concentrated in a few states; only 12 states and the District of Columbia exceeded the national average of $940 per worker.
  • Federal R&D obligations in 2011 varied greatly among the states, ranging from $131 to $5,633 per civilian worker. Higher values were found in the states surrounding the District of Columbia and in sparsely populated states with national laboratories or federal facilities.


Description

This indicator represents how federal R&D obligations are disbursed geographically relative to the size of a state’s employed civilian workforce. Federal R&D dollars are attributed to the states in which the recipients are located.

Data on federal obligations for R&D come from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, which aggregates reports from 11 federal agencies. The Department of Defense (DoD) disburses the most federal R&D funding, approximately 50% of the total. The geographic distribution of DoD R&D funding for development to industry reflects the location of prime contractors only, not the subcontractors who perform much of the R&D. A high value may indicate the existence of a number of large prime contractors or major federally funded R&D facilities in a state.

The estimate of a state’s workforce is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It represents the employed component of the civilian labor force and is not seasonally adjusted. BLS assigns workers to a location based on residence. Estimates for states with smaller populations are generally less precise than estimates for states with larger populations.


Data Table

Table 8-41
Federal R&D obligations per employed worker, by state: 2001, 2006, and 2011
 
Federal R&D
obligations ($thousands) 		Employed workers Federal R&D
obligations/
employed worker ($)
State 2001 2006 2011 2001 2006 2011 2001 2006 2011
 
United States 82,445,122 107,446,145 132,214,369 137,107,779 143,729,350 140,695,662 601 748 940
Alabama 2,456,769 2,161,708 5,295,260 2,034,909 2,098,462 1,992,522 1,207 1,030 2,658
Alaska 254,444 209,038 202,715 301,694 326,109 337,796 843 641 600
Arizona 1,881,000 2,056,284 2,947,365 2,453,453 2,836,638 2,761,984 767 725 1,067
Arkansas 183,867 156,164 185,011 1,194,024 1,286,887 1,251,877 154 121 148
California 13,001,687 21,156,522 23,766,358 16,220,033 16,821,266 16,237,286 802 1,258 1,464
Colorado 1,450,603 2,029,641 3,956,160 2,303,494 2,541,828 2,490,004 630 798 1,589
Connecticut 1,377,388 1,591,960 2,519,649 1,700,046 1,745,993 1,732,807 810 912 1,454
Delaware 83,546 108,657 115,097 404,135 424,618 407,772 207 256 282
District of Columbia 2,775,973 4,091,852 3,244,864 286,649 303,791 312,859 9,684 13,469 10,372
Florida 2,774,006 2,319,079 2,572,256 7,624,718 8,584,095 8,322,237 364 270 309
Georgia 3,438,270 1,251,445 1,467,224 4,112,868 4,500,150 4,295,113 836 278 342
Hawaii 435,685 340,094 426,895 589,216 617,807 614,824 739 550 694
Idaho 209,344 297,094 461,143 644,816 718,077 702,920 325 414 656
Illinois 1,825,057 1,975,552 2,993,498 6,113,536 6,225,095 5,942,809 299 317 504
Indiana 568,761 559,860 909,639 3,020,985 3,080,047 2,874,722 188 182 316
Iowa 361,455 497,173 702,407 1,568,638 1,595,136 1,562,156 230 312 450
Kansas 306,656 212,152 372,210 1,347,715 1,403,938 1,401,055 228 151 266
Kentucky 370,384 239,141 246,577 1,852,056 1,904,467 1,875,447 200 126 131
Louisiana 275,788 321,096 612,183 1,922,110 1,900,240 1,919,021 143 169 319
Maine 450,735 226,468 181,441 650,699 665,856 649,312 693 340 279
Maryland 9,473,728 12,499,496 16,155,528 2,712,268 2,892,733 2,868,191 3,493 4,321 5,633
Massachusetts 4,499,835 6,104,611 7,789,148 3,275,343 3,255,504 3,216,160 1,374 1,875 2,422
Michigan 1,196,424 1,680,908 2,156,949 4,876,338 4,722,716 4,189,792 245 356 515
Minnesota 900,936 1,237,266 973,293 2,755,808 2,774,524 2,777,285 327 446 350
Mississippi 415,671 544,029 610,041 1,229,884 1,199,871 1,197,641 338 453 509
Missouri 927,045 1,225,269 1,197,459 2,867,853 2,889,461 2,767,043 323 424 433
Montana 136,825 149,876 182,103 447,827 476,412 466,372 306 315 390
Nebraska 145,189 159,986 262,929 925,783 943,176 961,786 157 170 273
Nevada 360,215 422,449 482,238 1,042,182 1,222,277 1,207,799 346 346 399
New Hampshire 474,423 371,808 407,597 680,706 708,748 697,383 697 525 584
New Jersey 1,673,959 2,110,673 2,622,723 4,117,543 4,257,899 4,120,017 407 496 637
New Mexico 2,890,565 3,100,110 3,553,015 821,003 886,708 862,043 3,521 3,496 4,122
New York 3,528,344 5,225,241 5,252,630 8,743,924 9,062,464 8,740,642 404 577 601
North Carolina 1,400,937 1,765,859 2,069,117 3,929,977 4,261,325 4,183,052 356 414 495
North Dakota 77,903 112,067 118,061 336,228 349,368 368,677 232 321 320
Ohio 3,051,142 2,420,136 3,609,891 5,566,735 5,602,764 5,303,655 548 432 681
Oklahoma 324,002 262,336 475,596 1,614,627 1,650,070 1,678,953 201 159 283
Oregon 522,640 505,321 729,170 1,711,041 1,792,039 1,785,400 305 282 408
Pennsylvania 2,772,116 3,227,533 4,528,148 5,874,153 6,021,084 5,892,519 472 536 768
Rhode Island 437,455 615,902 612,766 520,677 543,973 499,481 840 1,132 1,227
South Carolina 314,287 370,562 515,713 1,834,871 1,970,912 1,941,654 171 188 266
South Dakota 54,941 75,926 61,931 400,352 421,799 422,696 137 180 147
Tennessee 1,039,488 1,455,622 2,213,857 2,728,523 2,852,509 2,828,617 381 510 783
Texas 3,189,399 5,263,822 5,904,027 9,991,920 10,757,510 11,493,519 319 489 514
Utah 421,569 737,850 1,757,902 1,108,547 1,285,389 1,254,151 380 574 1,402
Vermont 112,704 105,544 125,857 330,099 343,149 338,632 341 308 372
Virginia 4,995,665 8,882,441 8,637,382 3,537,719 3,862,508 3,928,267 1,412 2,300 2,199
Washington 1,725,258 4,039,292 4,980,150 2,863,705 3,155,384 3,161,818 602 1,280 1,575
West Virginia 376,105 301,416 261,253 758,904 777,210 740,175 496 388 353
Wisconsin 487,948 635,645 752,236 2,897,937 2,932,482 2,832,826 168 217 266
Wyoming 36,986 36,169 37,709 259,508 276,882 284,893 143 131 132
 
Puerto Rico 90,790 98,790 98,891 1,133,988 1,260,703 1,032,765 80 78 96
 

NOTES: Only 11 agencies are required to report federal R&D obligations: Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security (established in 2002), Interior, and Transportation; Environmental Protection Agency; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and National Science Foundation. These obligations represent approximately 98% of total federal R&D obligations. Civilian workers represent the employed component of the civilian labor force and are reported as annual data not seasonally adjusted. Federal R&D obligations are reported in current dollars.

SOURCES: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal Funds for Research and Development (various years); Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics (various years).

Science and Engineering Indicators 2014


State Data Tool

The state data tool allows interactive exploration of the 58 indicators in this chapter. Users have the ability to choose and explore a single indicator in-depth, compare multiple indicators for preselected groups, customize their own graphics, or download data tables. Click the button below to get started.

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