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4. Massachusetts
Massachusetts
Patents per million people: 9.8

Harvard, MIT, Tufts, UMass: These academic powerhouses also power a continuous migration of innovators to the state. "Our academic institutions are the greatest importer of talent," said Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for Massachusetts' Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. "That talent in turn is a great base for those independent inventors."

The highly educated population attracts a lot of investment money. Massachusetts leads the nation in venture capital per capita, according to a study from the John Adams Innovation Institute, a state economic development organization.

Most patents in the state are filed in the life sciences, communications, computer, medical equipment fields, according to Jones. The combination of smart people and lots of money make "an ecosystem that is ripe for patents," she said.



NEXT: Connecticut
Source: Kauffman Foundation based on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 2008 and 2009 data
Kauffman looked at independent inventor patents per million people of workforce age, 18-64
LAST UPDATE: Dec 23 2010 | 10:29 AM ET
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