West Virginia

Innovation Scorecard

Total Patents

2,059

National Rank

#47

Top Category

Chemistry & Materials

YoY Growth

16.3%

Population

1,774,977

Patents / $B GDP

Patents / 100K Pop

116

Innovation DNA

Patent activity distribution across technology categories

Innovation Ecosystem

Economic and research indicators that shape West Virginia's innovation landscape.

State GDP

$106B

Median Income

$55,948

Unemployment

4.6%

Bachelor's+

24.0%

Per Capita Income

$55,138

Fed. Spending

$8.3B

NIH Grants

138

NSF Awards

SBIR/STTR

330

~$124M awarded

Biz Formation

445/mo

STEM Workers

4.8%

36,411 employed

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

Patent Activity by Year

183

2016

225

2017

254

2018

267

2019

254

2020

206

2021

177

2022

166

2023

193

2024

134

2025

Top Patent Holders

Rank	Organization	Patents
1	CPG Technologies, LLC	96
2	WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY	92
3	Univation Technologies, LLC	72
4	Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc.	64
5	Covestro LLC	45
6	International Business Machines Corporation	45
7	Mustang Sampling, LLC	41
8	Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.	39
9	Dow Technology Investments LLC	33
10	DOW GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC	31

Technology Categories

Category	Patents	Share
chemistry & materials	404	21.1%
software & computing	394	20.6%
biotech & life sciences	361	18.9%
electronics & semiconductors	307	16.0%
mechanical & manufacturing	220	11.5%
construction	129	6.7%
mechanical engineering	93	4.9%
textiles	6	0.3%

Universities in West Virginia