This indicator represents the relationship between federal R&D spending in a state and the number of employees in the state who work in S&E occupations. Federal R&D dollars are attributed to the states in which the recipient organizations of federal obligations are located. Data on federal obligations for R&D come from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development, which is the primary source of information about federal funding for R&D in the United States. The survey is an annual census completed by the federal agencies that conduct R&D programs. The Department of Defense (DOD) accounts for a significant share of federal R&D funding, and the geographic distribution of DOD funding to industry, mostly for development, reflects the location of prime contractors only, not the subcontractors who perform much of the R&D.

S&E occupations are defined by standard occupational categories. S&E occupations typically require a bachelor’s degree for entry and are broadly composed of workers who are computer and mathematical scientists; biological, agricultural, and environmental life scientists; physical scientists; social scientists; and engineers. Data on individuals in S&E occupations come from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS), the largest household survey in the United States, with a sample size of about 3.5 million addresses. The ACS collects information on an annual basis.

The distribution of values for this indicator is often strongly skewed, with high values reported in the District of Columbia and in states where federal facilities or major defense contractors are located. Whereas this indicator shows the distribution of federal R&D obligations compared with the distribution of S&E occupations, many persons in S&E occupations do not receive federal money for R&D.

Data sources: National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Federal Funds for Research and Development; Census Bureau, special tabulations of the American Community Survey.