Innovation Cities™ Index 2021: USA City Rankings most innovative cities in US

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Which are the most innovative cities in US, post-pandemic? Who is number one in USA for 2021? What are the United States of America's most innovative cities for 2021? Which United States cities used the pandemic and 'work-from-home' to their advantage?

This Covid-19 updated USA city rankings, follows the world's most innovative cities top 100 and Innovation Cities™ Index: Global 500 cities lists recently released. The U.S. city list also includes all the latest DRAMATIC changes since late 2019 - a period of high volatility due to lockdowns, tumult in politics and Covid-19 responses. FAQ to all rankings.

This is based on the 14th annual Innovation Cities™ Index city rankings process. 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 the 2007 launch. This is the USA ranking, the full AMERICAS ranking published shortly.

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 - bser 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 | FAQ

2021 NATIONAL Ranking	City	STATE/PROVINCE	City ID	Current City Classification*	Current Score	2019 NATIONAL Ranking	National POST COVID-19 CHANGE	2021 GLOBAL Ranking
1	Boston	Massachusetts	167	NEXUS	56	4	3	2
2	New York	New York	901	NEXUS	54	1	-1	3
3	Dallas-Fort Worth	Texas	325	NEXUS	53	6	3	6
4	Houston	Texas	525	NEXUS	52	8	4	8
5	Chicago	Illinois	264	NEXUS	52	3	-2	9
6	San Francisco - San Jose	California	1557	NEXUS	51	5	-1	12
7	Atlanta	Georgia	79	NEXUS	51	9	2	13
8	Seattle	Washington	1215	NEXUS	51	7	-1	14
9	Miami	Florida	822	NEXUS	50	11	2	17
10	Washington DC	District of Columbia	1471	NEXUS	50	10	0	18
11	Los Angeles	California	740	NEXUS	50	2	-9	20
12	Austin	Texas	87	NEXUS	49	14	2	21
13	Las Vegas	Nevada	713	NEXUS	49	17	4	27
14	Denver	Colorado	334	NEXUS	49	15	1	28
15	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1027	NEXUS	48	13	-2	35
16	Portland	Oregon	1053	NEXUS	48	16	0	36
17	Minneapolis-St Paul	Minnesota	1544	NEXUS	48	22	5	37
18	Nashville	Tennessee	890	NEXUS	48	25	7	38
19	Phoenix	Arizona	1030	HUB	47	23	4	44
20	San Diego	California	1160	HUB	47	12	-8	45
21	Charlotte	North Carolina	247	HUB	47	31	10	46
22	Kansas City	KS/MO	614	HUB	47	35	13	47
23	San Antonio	Texas	1155	HUB	47	27	4	48
24	Detroit	Michigan	337	HUB	47	21	-3	50
25	Baltimore	Maryland	97	HUB	46	20	-5	55
26	Boulder	Colorado	168	HUB	46	44	18	56
27	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	403	HUB	46	30	3	57
28	Des Moines	Iowa	336	HUB	46	52	24	58
29	Lexington	Kentucky	722	HUB	46	84	55	59
30	Charleston	South Carolina	246	HUB	46	60	30	60
31	Springfield	Massachusetts	1266	HUB	46	78	47	61
32	Orlando	Florida	972	HUB	45	19	-13	62
33	Oakland	California	944	HUB	45	18	-15	65
34	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania	1035	HUB	45	33	-1	66
35	Salt Lake City	Utah	1149	HUB	45	40	5	67
36	St Louis	Missouri	1272	HUB	45	37	1	68
37	Indianapolis	Indiana	548	HUB	45	39	2	69
38	Albuquerque	New Mexico	27	HUB	45	50	12	71
39	Providence	Rhode Island	1067	HUB	45	36	-3	72
40	Oklahoma City	Oklahoma	955	HUB	45	66	26	73
41	Newark	New Jersey	902	HUB	45	26	-15	75
42	Savannah	Georgia	1211	HUB	45	74	32	77
43	Richmond	Virginia	1105	HUB	45	51	8	78
44	Tulsa	Oklahoma	1394	HUB	45	64	20	79
45	Honolulu	Hawaii	523	HUB	45	38	-7	80
46	Louisville	Kentucky	742	HUB	45	48	2	81
47	Little Rock	Arkansas	731	HUB	45	82	35	82
48	Santa Ana-Anaheim	California	1173	HUB	45	28	-20	83
49	Augusta	Georgia	83	HUB	45	101	52	84
50	Omaha	Nebraska	961	HUB	45	65	15	86
51	Norfolk-Virginia Beach	Virginia	924	HUB	45	61	10	87
52	Chattanooga	Tennessee	249	HUB	45	90	38	88
53	Anchorage	Alaska	47	HUB	45	98	45	89
54	Tallahassee	Florida	1322	HUB	44	63	9	99
55	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	827	NODE	44	45	-10	101
56	Cedar Rapids	Iowa	241	NODE	44	105	49	102
57	Jacksonville	Florida	580	NODE	44	47	-10	103
58	New Orleans	Louisiana	900	NODE	44	42	-16	104
59	Cleveland	Ohio	284	NODE	44	59	0	107
60	Birmingham	Alabama	151	NODE	44	80	20	109
61	Tucson	Arizona	1391	NODE	44	57	-4	110
62	Greensboro	North Carolina	461	NODE	44	83	21	111
63	Columbia	South Carolina	294	NODE	44	71	8	112
64	Cincinnati	Ohio	275	NODE	44	46	-18	114
65	Knoxville	Tennessee	662	NODE	44	72	7	115
66	Portland	Maine	2104	NODE	44	86	20	116
67	Montgomery	Alabama	851	NODE	44	99	32	118
68	Jackson	Mississippi	579	NODE	44	93	25	119
69	Winston-Salem	North Carolina	1484	NODE	44	88	19	120
70	Raleigh-Durham	North Carolina	1085	NODE	43	34	-36	127
71	Boise	Idaho	161	NODE	43	77	6	129
72	Memphis	Tennessee	813	NODE	43	41	-31	135
73	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	119	NODE	43	81	8	137
74	Columbus	Ohio	296	NODE	43	43	-31	138
75	Ann Arbor	Michigan	51	NODE	43	69	-6	139
76	Colorado Springs	Colorado	293	NODE	43	58	-18	140
77	Corpus Christi	Texas	307	NODE	43	87	10	141
78	Dayton	Ohio	330	NODE	43	85	7	142
79	Grand Rapids	Michigan	457	NODE	43	67	-12	143
80	Tampa	Florida	1327	NODE	43	29	-51	144
81	Wichita	Kansas	1479	NODE	43	102	21	145
82	Toledo	Ohio	1362	NODE	43	73	-9	146
83	Akron	Ohio	23	NODE	43	76	-7	147
84	Madison	Wisconsin	765	NODE	43	55	-29	148
85	Reno	Nevada	1097	NODE	43	92	7	149
86	Sacramento	California	1133	NODE	43	24	-62	150
87	Lincoln	Nebraska	727	NODE	43	97	10	152
88	El Paso	Texas	373	NODE	43	54	-34	153
89	Bozeman	Montana	171	NODE	43	115	26	154
90	Riverside	California	1111	NODE	43	32	-58	155
91	Buffalo	New York	197	NODE	42	49	-42	163
92	Albany	New York	1627	NODE	42	53	-39	165
93	Allentown	Pennsylvania	34	NODE	42	56	-37	166
94	Rochester	New York	1115	NODE	42	70	-24	169
95	Manchester	New Hampshire	781	NODE	42	79	-16	170
96	Spokane	Washington	1264	NODE	42	89	-7	173
97	Green Bay	Wisconsin	460	NODE	42	94	-3	175
98	Greenville	South Carolina	1628	NODE	42	100	2	180
99	Springfield	Missouri	1267	NODE	42	108	9	184
100	Charlottesville	Virginia	1543	NODE	42	109	9	185
101	Fargo	North Dakota	2103	NODE	42	112	11	187
102	Sioux Falls	South Dakota	1241	NODE	42	113	11	191
103	Roanoke	North Carolina	1632	NODE	42	116	13	192
104	Rochester	Minnesota	1114	NODE	42	110	6	194
105	Wilmington	Delaware	2105	NODE	41	103	-2	207
106	Hartford	Connecticut	493	NODE	41	68	-38	216
107	Syracuse	New York	1302	NODE	41	75	-32	218
108	Ventura-Oxnard	California	1633	NODE	41	62	-46	220
109	Burlington	Vermont	2100	NODE	40	114	5	243
110	Lancaster	Pennsylvania	1629	NODE	40	106	-4	246
111	Bridgeport	Connecticut	184	NODE	40	95	-16	249
112	Billings	Montana	150	NODE	39	117	5	273
113	Springfield	Illinois	1265	NODE	39	111	-2	282
114	Fresno	California	413	NODE	39	91	-23	284
115	Bakersfield	California	94	NODE	39	96	-19	286
116	Cheyenne	Wyoming	2102	NODE	39	118	2	289
117	Modesto	California	840	NODE	38	104	-13	325
118	Stockton	California	1281	NODE	38	107	-11	329

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 : www.innovation-cities.com/city-rankings/ [or just link to the page you are referencing] 2thinknow do reserve all rights, including the right to ask content to be removed.