Most innovative USA metros: 2000-2011

Source: inc.com/magazine/201404/lydia-belanger/the-most-innovative-cities.html

Below is a list of the twenty most innovative metropolitan areas in the United States, based on the number of patents issued between 2000 and 2011. Most surprising is the absence of the Research Triangle of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Denver-Boulder, Colorado; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and the Salt Lake City, Utah urban areas.

1. Silicon Valley, California = 89,547
2. New York City, New York = 61,587
3. San Francisco-Oakland, California = 54,205
4. Los Angeles, California = 49,193
5. Boston-Cambridge, Massachusetts = 40,195
6. Chicago, Illinois = 31,751
7. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota = 28,088
8. Seattle, Washington = 26,359
9. San Diego, California = 25,790
10. Detroit-Ann Arbor, Michigan = 25,293
11. Dallas- Fort Worth, Texas = 23,230
12. Austin, Texas = 22,916
13. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania = 22,481
14. Houston, Texas = 21,035
15. Portland, Oregon = 17,641
16. Washington, DC-MD-VA = 16,061
17. Boise, Idaho = 15,969
18. Phoenix, Arizona = 14,438
19. Rochester, New York = 14,407
20. Atlanta, Georgia = 14,381

Source: inc.com/magazine/201404/lydia-belanger/the-most-innovative-cities.html