Iowa

Innovation Scorecard

Total Patents

14,844

National Rank

#28

Top Category

Biotech & Life Sciences

YoY Growth

-2.9%

Population

3,200,224

Patents / $B GDP

Patents / 100K Pop

464

Innovation DNA

Patent activity distribution across technology categories

Innovation Ecosystem

Economic and research indicators that shape Iowa's innovation landscape.

State GDP

$266B

Median Income

$71,433

Unemployment

3.5%

Bachelor's+

31.5%

Per Capita Income

$63,573

Fed. Spending

$9.7B

NIH Grants

618

NSF Awards

132

SBIR/STTR

593

~$207M awarded

Biz Formation

851/mo

STEM Workers

6.1%

100,712 employed

Sources: FRED, Census ACS, USAspending.gov, NIH RePORTER, NSF, SBIR.gov

Patent Activity by Year

1,314

2016

1,539

2017

1,460

2018

1,666

2019

1,615

2020

1,587

2021

1,464

2022

1,502

2023

1,458

2024

1,239

2025

Top Patent Holders

Rank	Organization	Patents
1	Deere & Company	2,352
2	Rockwell Collins, Inc.	1,046
3	PIONEER HI-BRED INTERNATIONAL, INC.	981
4	Monsanto Technology LLC	955
5	M.S. Technologies, L.L.C.	677
6	IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.	389
7	Fisher Controls International LLC	369
8	University of Iowa Research Foundation	260
9	Skyworks Solutions, Inc.	246
10	Stine Seed Farm, Inc.	211

Technology Categories

Category	Patents	Share
biotech & life sciences	5,417	38.8%
software & computing	2,137	15.3%
mechanical & manufacturing	1,726	12.4%
mechanical engineering	1,431	10.3%
electronics & semiconductors	1,407	10.1%
chemistry & materials	1,096	7.9%
construction	726	5.2%
textiles	11	0.1%

Iowa

Innovation DNA

Innovation Ecosystem

Patent Activity by Year

Top Patent Holders

Technology Categories

Universities in Iowa

University Of Iowa

University Of Northern Iowa