States with the highest patent production per capita: California, Massachusetts, Washington, Oregon, Utah, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Connecticut, Colorado, Michigan
States with the lowest patent production per capita: Mississippi, West Virginia, Alabama, Hawaii, Alaska, Kentucky, Maine, North Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma
Smart of the latter group to free ride on the positive externalities produced by technological innovators.
Looks like yankee ingenuity is a thang (with Maine a notable laggard).
The ratio of patents granted per capita in California and Massachusetts to those granted in Mississippi and West Virginia is on the order of 10 to 1.
https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2021/05/the-distribution-of-patents-across-u-s-states/