The most innovative U.S. cities in 2022

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Innovation starts with people. And for innovation to thrive, Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) workers need to be supported and driven to be productive.

By analyzing the number of STEM workers, average salary, and the percentage of women employed, plus the amount of college graduates with science and engineering degrees, and Google search volume for STEM jobs - we found the most and least innovative U.S. cities.

The most innovative city in the U.S. in 2022 is Seattle, Washington. This comes as little surprise considering the city is the hub for scientific innovation. You can find the Museum of Flight, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Living Computers museums all in Seattle.

The next most innovative city in the U.S. is Baltimore, Maryland (where an Innovation Week event is hosted annually), followed by San Jose, California (a leader in nationwide technology innovation).

Six of the top ten most innovative cities are in California, including Sacramento, Fresno, San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The other states with cities leading on the innovation front are Maryland, Massachusetts, Colorado, and North Carolina.

Most and Least Innovative Cities in 2022

Workers in Seattle are the highest paid with the average STEM employee in the state of Washington earning $124,000. That’s about 63% higher than the state with lowest STEM salary: Wyoming. The average salary for STEM workers in Wyoming is $68,770.

Wyoming is also the state with the lowest number of STEM workers at 2,970. When standardized by state population, the state with the lowest percentage of STEM workers per 100,000 people is Louisiana. Both of these states did not have a city rank in the most innovative cities for 2022.

STEM Stats in the U.S.

California has the highest number of STEM workers in the United States, with 662,110. It’s not surprising that six of the top ten most innovative cities are in the Golden State, considering how many STEM jobs are available and how well paid they are.

When it comes to women employed in STEM jobs, Maryland has the highest percentage at 7.5%. The state with the lowest is South Dakota, at just 2.6%.

Google search volume for STEM jobs can reflect a demand or interest for jobs in each city. New York City had the highest search volume for STEM jobs. Houston and Los Angeles are the next cities searching most for these jobs, followed by Chicago.

So when it comes to innovation, remember it starts with the people. People need to be supported, paid well, and diverse in order to be innovative and make up a successful business.

Methodology: To determine our ranking, we compared all 50 U.S. states across four key metrics: the number of STEM workers standardized by state population, average salary of STEM workers, percentage of degrees earned in the science and engineering field, and percentage of women employed in STEM. We also used Google search volume for ‘STEM jobs’ for the 35 most populous cities in the United States from August 2019 until August 2022. To determine an overall score, we graded each metric on a 20-point scale, then combined the scores to find a total out of 100.

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Sources:

• U.S. Census Population Data
• Status of Women in the States
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics