Innovation Cities™ Index 2021: Top 100 World’s Most Innovative Cities

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top100What are the world's most innovative cities for 2021? This Covid-19 update includes all the latest DRAMATIC changes. FAQ.

Listed are the top 100 cities of the 14th annual Innovation Cities™ Index city rankings. Ranks 500 cities. Original quantitative method, based on 162 indicators (including consideration of 1000+ data point inputs) per city.

2THINKNOW have developed this city ranking for innovation since 2007 launch.

FAQ

This city rankings measure conditions for innovation. This includes the most popular areas for 2021 innovation: digital transformation, technology application, startups, economic development, sustainability, liveability, mobility and other key areas of the best city to live, work and play - based on 162 standard indicators for innovators.

The Innovation Cities™ Indexes annually measure each city of the 500 as an innovation economy, since 2007. We seek to definitively answer the question -  'which are the world's most innovative cities '?

-- MORE FAQ

162 City Indicators

Based on 162 standard indicators with underlying Data Points from 2thinknow's awesome City Benchmarking Data set - all available to order for single cities or sets of cities.

-- From FAQ

Data on 1 City

Order all 162 indicators and over 450 slides of full analysis on one single city online or via Proposal.
Data Comparing Cities

Order the data you need as raw Data Points (info, order) or 162 City Indicators (info, order) for set of 10+ cities, or order City Indicators (info, order). Or contact us for anything else.

Index Resources

Ranking Resources: Background | Media | Method

Want to reproduce this list? You Can. First, see 'Reproducing this list' below.

While the Innovation Cities™ Index is free, detailed data is always available for purchase.

GLOBAL RANKCITYGEOGRAPHYSTATE/PROVINCEGROUPINGSCORE (60)CLASSCHANGE (2019)CHANGE OVER TIMECITYIDREGION
1TokyoJapanTokyoJAPAN56NEXUS+1+31361ASIA
2BostonUnited StatesMassachusettsUSA56NEXUS+6+4167AMERICAS
3New YorkUnited StatesNew YorkUSA54NEXUS-2+901AMERICAS
4SydneyAustraliaNSWANZ53NEXUS+11+101300ASIA
5SingaporeSingaporeSingaporeASIA53NEXUS++21240ASIA
6Dallas-Fort WorthUnited StatesTexasUSA53NEXUS+7+16325AMERICAS
7SeoulSouth KoreaSeoulASIA52NEXUS+7+41218ASIA
8HoustonUnited StatesTexasUSA52NEXUS+9+19525AMERICAS
9ChicagoUnited StatesIllinoisUSA52NEXUS-2+5264AMERICAS
10ParisFranceÎle-de-FranceEUROPE51NEXUS-4-21002EUROPE
11LondonUnited KingdomEUROPE51NEXUS-8-9737EUROPE
12San Francisco - San JoseUnited StatesCaliforniaUSA51NEXUS-3-71557AMERICAS
13AtlantaUnited StatesGeorgiaUSA51NEXUS+5+1779AMERICAS
14SeattleUnited StatesWashingtonUSA51NEXUS+2+21215AMERICAS
15ShanghaiChinaShanghaiCHINA51NEXUS+18+151227ASIA
16StockholmSwedenEUROPE50NEXUS+16+111279EUROPE
17MiamiUnited StatesFloridaUSA50NEXUS+3+13822AMERICAS
18Washington DCUnited StatesDistrict of ColumbiaUSA50NEXUS+1+71471AMERICAS
19BeijingChinaBeijingCHINA50NEXUS+7+14125ASIA
20Los AngelesUnited StatesCaliforniaUSA50NEXUS-16-11740AMERICAS
21AustinUnited StatesTexasUSA49NEXUS+13+1687AMERICAS
22ViennaAustriaViennaEUROPE49NEXUS+3-81439EUROPE
23TaipeiTaiwanTaiwanCHINA49NEXUS+21+341313ASIA
24AmsterdamNetherlandsEUROPE49NEXUS+6-743EUROPE
25OsloNorwayEUROPE49NEXUS+17+11978EUROPE
26ShenzhenChinaGuangdongCHINA49NEXUS+27+371230ASIA
27Las VegasUnited StatesNevadaUSA49NEXUS+13+40713AMERICAS
28DenverUnited StatesColoradoUSA49NEXUS+7+16334AMERICAS
29DubaiUnited Arab EmiratesMID-EAST48NEXUS+2+353EMERGING
30OsakaJapanOsakaJAPAN48NEXUS+7+142112ASIA
31BerlinGermanyEUROPE48NEXUS-19-17142EUROPE
32IstanbulTurkeyMID-EAST48NEXUS+11+36564EUROPE
33MelbourneAustraliaVICANZ48NEXUS-22-12811ASIA
34MoscowRussiaMoscowRUSSIA48NEXUS+4+10858EUROPE
35PhiladelphiaUnited StatesPennsylvaniaUSA48NEXUS-11-31027AMERICAS
36PortlandUnited StatesOregonUSA48NEXUS+3+111053AMERICAS
37Minneapolis-St PaulUnited StatesMinnesotaUSA48NEXUS+22+271544AMERICAS
38NashvilleUnited StatesTennesseeUSA48NEXUS+28+75890AMERICAS
39MunichGermanyEUROPE47HUB-12-20863EUROPE
40MadridSpainEUROPE47HUB-12-4766EUROPE
41HelsinkiFinlandEUROPE47HUB+17+3497EUROPE
42BrisbaneAustraliaQLDANZ47HUB+6+13186ASIA
43TorontoCanadaOntarioCANADA47HUB-33-341370AMERICAS
44PhoenixUnited StatesArizonaUSA47HUB+16+521030AMERICAS
45San DiegoUnited StatesCaliforniaUSA47HUB-22-121160AMERICAS
46CharlotteUnited StatesNorth CarolinaUSA47HUB+40+70247AMERICAS
47Kansas CityUnited StatesKS/MOUSA47HUB+47+37614AMERICAS
48San AntonioUnited StatesTexasUSA47HUB+22+551155AMERICAS
49Hong KongChinaHong KongCHINA47HUB+7-14522ASIA
50DetroitUnited StatesMichiganUSA47HUB+5+61337AMERICAS
51GuangzhouChinaGuangdongCHINA47HUB+23+68468ASIA
52BarcelonaSpainEUROPE46HUB-31-29105EUROPE
53MontréalCanadaQuebecCANADA46HUB-31-27853AMERICAS
54CopenhagenDenmarkEUROPE46HUB-7-20302EUROPE
55BaltimoreUnited StatesMarylandUSA46HUB-4+1197AMERICAS
56BoulderUnited StatesColoradoUSA46HUB+57+49168AMERICAS
57Fort LauderdaleUnited StatesFloridaUSA46HUB+27+66403AMERICAS
58Des MoinesUnited StatesIowaUSA46HUB+77+87336AMERICAS
59LexingtonUnited StatesKentuckyUSA46HUB+161+199722AMERICAS
60CharlestonUnited StatesSouth CarolinaUSA46HUB+103+131246AMERICAS
61SpringfieldUnited StatesMassachusettsUSA46HUB+141+1551266AMERICAS
62OrlandoUnited StatesFloridaUSA45HUB-12-8972AMERICAS
63MilanItalyEUROPE45HUB-34-26825EUROPE
64KyotoJapanKyotoJAPAN45HUB+16-1700ASIA
65OaklandUnited StatesCaliforniaUSA45HUB-16+4944AMERICAS
66PittsburghUnited StatesPennsylvaniaUSA45HUB+24+201035AMERICAS
67Salt Lake CityUnited StatesUtahUSA45HUB+36+311149AMERICAS
68St LouisUnited StatesMissouriUSA45HUB+31+571272AMERICAS
69IndianapolisUnited StatesIndianaUSA45HUB+33+74548AMERICAS
70ZürichSwitzerlandEUROPE45HUB-8-21526EUROPE
71AlbuquerqueUnited StatesNew MexicoUSA45HUB+59+7227AMERICAS
72ProvidenceUnited StatesRhode IslandUSA45HUB+24+261067AMERICAS
73Oklahoma CityUnited StatesOklahomaUSA45HUB+113+96955AMERICAS
74PerthAustraliaWAANZ45HUB+27+371020ASIA
75NewarkUnited StatesNew JerseyUSA45HUB-7+11902AMERICAS
76NagoyaJapanAichiJAPAN45HUB+41+55877ASIA
77SavannahUnited StatesGeorgiaUSA45HUB+120+1111211AMERICAS
78RichmondUnited StatesVirginiaUSA45HUB+54+261105AMERICAS
79TulsaUnited StatesOklahomaUSA45HUB+105+1521394AMERICAS
80HonoluluUnited StatesHawaiiUSA45HUB+20+44523AMERICAS
81LouisvilleUnited StatesKentuckyUSA45HUB+44+99742AMERICAS
82Little RockUnited StatesArkansasUSA45HUB+134+157731AMERICAS
83Santa Ana-AnaheimUnited StatesCaliforniaUSA45HUB-11+11173AMERICAS
84AugustaUnited StatesGeorgiaUSA45HUB+180+18783AMERICAS
85CanberraAustraliaACTANZ45HUB+75+83219ASIA
86OmahaUnited StatesNebraskaUSA45HUB+99+155961AMERICAS
87Norfolk-Virginia BeachUnited StatesVirginiaUSA45HUB+78+79924AMERICAS
88ChattanoogaUnited StatesTennesseeUSA45HUB+142+168249AMERICAS
89AnchorageUnited StatesAlaskaUSA45HUB+169+19847AMERICAS
90HamburgGermanyEUROPE44HUB-44-50483EUROPE
91Tel AvivIsraelMID-EAST44HUB-50-561337EUROPE
92DublinIrelandEUROPE44HUB-40-39354EUROPE
93RomeItalyEUROPE44HUB-48-431117EUROPE
94RotterdamNetherlandsEUROPE44HUB-11+1123EUROPE
95Abu DhabiUnited Arab EmiratesMID-EAST44HUB-20-318EMERGING
96BusanSouth KoreaASIA44HUB-5-141553ASIA
97BudapestHungaryEUROPE44HUB-18-23194EUROPE
98WellingtonNew ZealandWellingtonANZ44HUB+22+131473ASIA
99TallahasseeUnited StatesFloridaUSA44HUB+70+291322AMERICAS
100AdelaideAustraliaSAANZ44NODE+54+7013ASIA

Reproducing this list.

The indexes and supporting materials are copyright and used under license by 2thinknow. You may reproduce the statistics and indexes in any reasonable form, graphics, or data mash-up as long as you attribute it to 2thinknow and do not modify the numbers or otherwise mislead. The easy correct way to do this is as follows:

Source: 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Index 2021: www.innovation-cities.com/indexes/ [or just link to the page you are referencing]

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