Wisconsin

Innovation Scorecard

Total Patents

37,420

National Rank

#20

Top Category

Mechanical & Manufacturing

YoY Growth

6.3%

Population

5,891,022

Patents / $B GDP

Patents / 100K Pop

635

Innovation DNA

Patent activity distribution across technology categories

Innovation Ecosystem

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

State GDP

$453B

Median Income

$74,631

Unemployment

3.1%

Bachelor's+

33.8%

Per Capita Income

$67,586

Fed. Spending

$42.1B

NIH Grants

1,274

NSF Awards

182

SBIR/STTR

2,038

~$752M awarded

Biz Formation

1,714/mo

STEM Workers

7.3%

222,575 employed

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

Patent Activity by Year

3,654

2016

3,747

2017

3,701

2018

4,145

2019

4,081

2020

3,765

2021

3,651

2022

3,730

2023

3,964

2024

2,982

2025

Top Patent Holders

Rank	Organization	Patents
1	Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation	1,988
2	Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation	1,479
3	Kohler Co.	1,236
4	3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES COMPANY	1,034
5	ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.	999
6	Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.	882
7	General Electric Company	771
8	Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.	741
9	Johnson Controls Technology Company	663
10	Brunswick Corporation	638

Technology Categories

Category	Patents	Share
biotech & life sciences	7,148	22.4%
mechanical & manufacturing	6,797	21.3%
software & computing	6,099	19.1%
electronics & semiconductors	3,811	11.9%
mechanical engineering	3,728	11.7%
chemistry & materials	2,532	7.9%
construction	1,378	4.3%
textiles	409	1.3%

Universities in Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Innovation DNA

Innovation Ecosystem

Patent Activity by Year

Top Patent Holders

Technology Categories

Universities in Wisconsin

Carthage College

Marquette University

Medical College Of Wisconsin

Milwaukee School Of Engineering

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College

Ripon College

University Of Wisconsin