by Christopher Pece [1]

State government agency expenditures for research and development totaled $2.5 billion in FY 2017, an increase of 7% from FY 2016 (table 1). Of this amount, $1.1 billion was directed toward health-related R&D projects. This was the first time that R&D expenditures for any state government function totaled more than $1.0 billion. Five state governments (California, New York, Texas, Florida, and Ohio) accounted for 62% of all state government R&D in FY 2017. The same five governments constituted 64% of FY 2016 state government R&D. This InfoBrief presents summary statistics from the FY 2017 Survey of State Government Research and Development, sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the National Science Foundation.

The FY 2017 survey presents the most recent NCSES statistics on R&D activities performed and funded by state government agencies in each of the 50 states, as well as the municipal government of the District of Columbia. Survey data are available by state and by individual state agency. Further details are also available on R&D performer (intramural and extramural), source of funding, type of R&D (basic research, applied research, and experimental development), and R&D by government function (agriculture, energy, environment and natural resources, health, transportation, and other).

National Totals

Of the $2.5 billion in state government agency R&D expenditures in FY 2017, 78% came from state and other nonfederal sources (table 1). The majority (73%) of state government agency R&D expenditures went to extramural R&D performers (i.e., performers other than state agencies). Higher education institutions were the primary recipients of these expenditures with 57% of all extramural funding,[2] followed by companies and individuals (25%). Intramural performers of R&D, the state agencies themselves, totaled $670 million in FY 2017, a 6% increase from FY 2016.

Expenditures for R&D plant (construction projects, major building renovations, major equipment purchases, and land and building acquisitions intended primarily for R&D use) totaled $23.0 million in FY 2017, a 9% decrease from the $25.3 million reported in FY 2016. Eighty percent of all state government expenditures for R&D plant come from projects in California, Florida, Louisiana, New York, and Virginia.

State Governments' R&D Funding and Performance

Overview

Individual state government expenditures on R&D (including funds from federal, state, and other sources) in FY 2017 varied from $1.1 million in Vermont to $512.4 million in California. Similarly, the federal funds for R&D projects received by state governments ranged from under $1 million in New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Vermont to more than $150 million in New York. Combined, the five largest state governments to receive federal funds for R&D (New York, California, Texas, Florida, and South Carolina) accounted for 48% of the total $541.2 million in federal funds provided to all state governments for R&D activities.

Intramural R&D Performance

Five states accounted for 66% of the $670.0 million in expenditures for intramural R&D performed by all state agencies in FY 2017: New York ($246.1 million), California ($104.3 million), Florida ($44.5 million), South Carolina ($25.7 million), and Connecticut ($20.0 million) (table 2). In FY 2017, 39% ($263.6 million) of state agency intramural R&D performance was funded by the federal government. The share of federal funds in support of state government intramural R&D ranged considerably from as much as 92% in Vermont, 87% in Maryland, 83% in Oklahoma, 83% in Montana, and 82% in Idaho to as low as 4% in New Jersey, 2% in Utah, and no federal funding to support intramural R&D activities in Illinois, Nevada, and Rhode Island.

The majority (82%) of state government intramural R&D performance is directed toward applied research ($552.0 million), whereas basic research constitutes approximately 14% of intramural R&D and experimental development is 3% (figure 1). All state governments, except for Hawaii, Nebraska, and Nevada, reported a portion of their intramural R&D as applied research; 27 state governments reported some intramural R&D as basic research; and 31 reported some intramural R&D as experimental development. Thirteen state governments reported all of their intramural R&D as applied research. New York's intramural R&D constitutes 37% of all state governments' intramural R&D activities, with $67.6 million directed toward basic research, $174.9 million toward applied research, and $3.6 million toward experimental development.

NOTES: U.S. total reflects all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Detail may not add to total because of rounding.

SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of State Government Research and Development, FY 2017.

Figure 1 Source Data: Excel file

Extramural R&D Performance

Five states accounted for 63% of the total $1.8 billion in FY 2017 state government expenditures for extramural R&D performance: California ($408.1 million), Texas ($290.3 million), New York ($188.2 million), Florida ($157.4 million), and Ohio ($105.8 million). However, states varied in how they funded extramural R&D. For example, Texas state agencies directed 64% of this funding toward higher education institutions ($185.7 million) compared with 21% ($61.5 million) to companies and individuals. By comparison Ohio state agencies directed 66% of their funding for extramural performance toward companies and individuals ($69.3 million) and 32% ($33.8 million) to higher education.

In addition to Texas, state agencies in California ($160.2 million), Florida ($135.7 million), New York, ($107.3 million), and Pennsylvania ($44.2 million) combined accounted for 61% of the total support to higher education institutions ($1.0 billion) in FY 2017. Similarly, state agencies in California ($155.9 million), Ohio ($69.3 million), Texas ($61.5 million), New York ($22.1 million), and Connecticut ($20.1 million) combined accounted for 73% of the total R&D support from state governments to companies and individuals ($450.1 million) in FY 2017.

R&D by State Government Functions

Most states reported a broad mix of R&D projects related to state government functions: agriculture, energy, environment and natural resources, health, transportation, and other (table 3). Health-related R&D projects made up the largest share of state agencies' R&D expenditures (45% in FY 2017). R&D projects related to the environment and natural resources accounted for 19% of total state government R&D expenditures in FY 2017. Energy, transportation, agriculture, and all other projects' shares of total R&D expenditures in FY 2017 were 12%, 11%, 5%, and 8.5%, respectively. Although R&D expenditures for most government functions increased from FY 2016, energy-related R&D decreased 17% from $368 million in FY 2016.

All states reported R&D expenditures in at least two of these government function categories, and 13 states reported R&D expenditures across all functions in FY 2017. Some R&D functions are highly concentrated within a handful of states. For example, in FY 2017, a total of 32 state governments reported some expenditures for energy-related R&D, yet 89% of all state government R&D expenditures for energy-related R&D was concentrated in five states: California ($184.6 million), New York ($55.9 million), Ohio ($15.3 million), Washington ($8.2 million), and North Dakota ($8.1 million). Similarly, 35 states reported expenditures for health-related R&D in FY 2017, yet 81% of all state government agency expenditures on health-related R&D was reported by agencies in five states: New York ($284.9 million), Texas ($251.2 million), California ($203.2 million), Florida ($118.4 million), and Pennsylvania ($47.6 million).

The five state governments with the most R&D expenditures for agriculture, environmental and natural resources, and transportation were somewhat less concentrated in their shares of the respective national totals than were the states with the largest shares of energy R&D and health R&D. For instance, 35 states reported some R&D expenditures for agriculture, but the five states with the most agriculture expenditures—namely, Florida, North Carolina, Washington, Arkansas, and New York—make up 53% of all state government spending on agriculture-related R&D. All states except Arkansas and Illinois reported some R&D expenditures on environment and natural resources. However, the five states with the most environment and natural resources expenditures—Ohio, California, Florida, South Carolina, and New York—accounted for 48% of the total in FY 2017. Transportation-related R&D projects were conducted by all state governments with California, Texas, Virginia, Florida, and Ohio accounting for 39% of the transportation-related R&D total.

Data Sources and Limitations

Data presented in this InfoBrief are in current dollars and have not been adjusted for inflation. All 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in the FY 2017 survey, and 536 of the 571 selected agencies (94%) responded to the survey. Puerto Rico agencies did not report to the survey for FY 2017. Data for the FY 2017 survey were collected for NCSES by the U.S. Census Bureau under an interagency agreement.

Most states' fiscal year begins on 1 July and ends the following 30 June. For example, FY 2017 begins on 1 July 2016 and ends on 30 June 2017. There are, however, five exceptions to the 30 June fiscal year end: New York (ends 31 March), Texas (ends 31 August), and Alabama, Michigan, and the District of Columbia (ends 30 September). Data presented in this InfoBrief are for each of the respective fiscal year periods as defined by each state.

Terms such as state, state government, and state agencies have equivalent meaning and are used interchangeably throughout this InfoBrief. The amounts reported here are for R&D expenditures of state government departments, agencies, public authorities, institutions, and other dependent entities that operate separately or somewhat autonomously from the central state government. State government R&D totals can display considerable volatility between survey years due to several national and state-specific factors. Large changes are not unusual, especially for discretionary spending items such as R&D. Amounts reported do not include direct appropriations from state legislatures to universities, colleges, and private organizations. As a result, the $1.0 billion in FY 2017 expenditures reported by state agencies to support R&D performance by academic institutions differs from the figure reported by universities and colleges in FY 2017 ($4.2 billion) for expenditures on R&D activities that were funded from state and local government sources. (See National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics. 2017. Higher Education Research and Development: Fiscal Year, 2017. Data Tables. Alexandria, VA. Available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyherd/#tabs-2.)

State- and agency-specific data not available in this InfoBrief will be available in the full set of detailed tables from this survey in the report State Government Research and Development: FY 2017, at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvystaterd/#tabs-2. Individual detailed tables from the FY 2017 survey may be available in advance of the full report. For further information, contact the author.

Notes

[1] Christopher Pece, Research and Development Statistics Program, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, National Science Foundation, 2415 Eisenhower Avenue, Suite W14200, Alexandria, VA 22314 (cpece@nsf.gov; 703-292-7788).

[2] State agency expenditures directed toward higher education institutions under this survey do not include direct state appropriations to colleges and universities.