Washington named ‘Most Innovative’ state by Bloomberg News

Washington state has won another honor based on the brain power of its residents. Bloomberg News has named the Evergreen State as “Most Innovative.”

Washington tops Bloomberg’s list followed by California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Oregon.

The list was compiled using several factors: the number of professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics as a percentage of the state’s population, science and technology degree-holders as a percentage of state population, invention patents granted in the state as a percentage of the patents granted in the U.S., research and development intensity, productivity per employed worker, change in productivity over a three-year period and publicly held technology companies in industries such as aerospace, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy and information technology as a percentage of firms operating in the state.

At the bottom of the list was Arkansas, which ranked 51st (the District of Columbia was also included in the group). Just above Arkansas were Mississippi, Wyoming, Tennessee, Louisiana and Nevada.

Several of the states that Boeing is reportedly considering as the site of its newest aircraft plant were low on the list. Alabama ranked 41st. Missouri was 38th. South Carolina was 33rd.

Boeing has invited other states to bid for the new assembly plant after union workers here rejected a long-term contract the company said would have guaranteed the 777X aircraft would be built in Boeing’s existing plant in Everett.