RALEIGH — North Carolina has broken into the nation’s top 10 states for overall innovation capacity for the first time, ranking ninth in the 2026 Tracking Innovation report released Sept. 10 by the North Carolina Department of Commerce on behalf of the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation.
The report is the tenth edition of the series since 2000. It scores the state against other states and the nation on 41 measures. Commerce said North Carolina’s innovation economy has also improved faster than the U.S. overall since the early 2000s.
“North Carolina’s ability to innovate is a critical part of our economic strength and future competitiveness,” Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley said in the department’s release. “Our First in Opportunity Strategic Economic Development Plan is focused on building on these strengths to drive innovation, economic growth and opportunity in every region of North Carolina. This report shows where we are making progress and where we can do more to ensure communities across the state can participate in and benefit from an innovation-driven economy.”
Where the state is strong
Commerce and the board pointed to long-standing research strengths and faster growth in commercial tech:
Academic R&D spending and academic article output both rank fifth among states.
University academic license income is up 149 percent since 2000, and university startup formation is up 9.8 percent — both ahead of the U.S. average. Nationally, academic license income has declined.
Federal SBIR and STTR funding for early-stage North Carolina tech companies has grown seven times faster than the U.S. average since 2000, keeping the state above the national average.
Knowledge- and technology-intensive business establishments have increased 111 percent since 2000 — nearly double the U.S. rate — and pay average wages roughly twice those of all establishments.
The share of the workforce in science and engineering occupations is up 83 percent since 2003, faster than the national rate and above the U.S. average.
Gender and ethnic diversity in those knowledge- and technology-intensive industries remains well above the U.S. average, as it has since 2001.
In-migration of college-educated adults has risen at three times the U.S. rate since 2005.
More counties are performing above the U.S. average on a greater number of measures, which the report frames as innovation strength spreading geographically.
Greg Copenhaver, acting chair of the Board of Science, Technology & Innovation, called innovation a “force multiplier” for living standards and an accelerator for new industries, global competitiveness, national security, and future growth. “North Carolina’s ability to thrive in an increasingly dynamic, global economy depends on how much we infuse innovation throughout our state,” he said.
The gaps the report flags
The same release is blunt about unfinished work. Commerce said North Carolina still needs to expand innovation activity into more regions and broaden strengths across a wider set of high-tech sectors. The report highlights disparities in broadband and internet-device access, and finds elementary and secondary public school current spending lagging national averages and nearly all other states.
It also says the state must speed improvements in economic growth, wages, and workforce incomes, which still trail the national average even as population grows quickly. Broadly shared gains — including in rural and economically distressed communities — will matter if poverty reduction and household-income growth are to keep pace with overall expansion.
Why it matters in Catawba County
Catawba County’s recent manufacturing map is one local answer to that “every region” challenge. Prysmian broke ground Sept. 10 on a more than $1 billion Claremont fiber and glass expansion. Corning is expanding optical cable capacity in Hickory under a multiyear Meta deal, while Microsoft builds data centers in Conover, Hickory, Maiden, and Newton. Those projects sit in the same statewide story the Tracking Innovation report is trying to measure: research, capital, and skilled workers converting into high-wage, knowledge-intensive industry — and whether the benefits reach beyond the Triangle and Charlotte. Related: Prysmian Claremont groundbreaking · Corning, Meta, and Microsoft.
The full Tracking Innovation report is available through the N.C. Department of Commerce. Additional information requests go to the Board of Science, Technology & Innovation executive staff.
Earlier coverage: Prysmian Claremont groundbreaking · Corning, Meta, and Microsoft · Prysmian incentives
