This category assesses state legislation on its policies toward blockchain technologies including cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens and their treatment of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). It assesses four key metrics: A) Whether cryptocurrency, virtual currency, or blockchain has been incorporated into statutory definitions of monetary value, money, or money transmitter or defined separately; B) whether a state has adopted new UCC or UETA amendments to include cryptocurrency or blockchain; C) whether a state has cryptomining restrictions; and D) whether decentralized autonomous organizations can be incorporated organized or recognized as legal entities.

States are given grading points for this category where the legislation: employs a risk-based focus; maintains legal clarity, without inhibiting businesses' ability to innovate and compete; follows time-tested, consensus-based principles; and embraces transparency, consumer choice and heightened protections for sensitive data. Comprehensive Data Privacy rights and laws make up 85% of the grade and are investigated through consumer rights, transparency, and enforcement. The remaining grade is determined based on whether or not the state has enacted a law protecting sensitive/biometric data.

Using data from the Tax Foundation’s 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index, this grade is derived from numerical scoring data, including corporate and individual income taxes, sales tax, unemployment insurance tax and property tax rates. States are graded on a curve and assigned a letter grade from A+ to F.

The presence of Telehealth reimbursement is a key driver of this category, and taken as an indicator of innovation. More reimbursement availability leads to a more positive score, as this indicates access to care and relevance of telehealth technologies and systems.

This category takes into account a variety of tort liability policies and tort burdens per household per state. Liabilities are either: joint and several (negative score impact), modified (neutral), and several (positive). The data comes from the IFS Scorecard.

States that have moved towards lower electricity rates will be viewed as 'grid prepared' and thus supportive of innovation. States with increasing electricity rates will be given lower, less-innovation-friendly scores.

Mobility is assessed based on the presence or lack of regulatory limitations on the use and development of newer mobility tech, specifically autonomous vehicles and drones. A more stringent and prohibitive usage policy will lower the grade; testing and research support will positively inform the grading calculation.

This category evaluates a state’s population on the basis of how many job opportunities there are in the technology industry, the number of apprenticeships, the share of population with an advanced degree and how fair it is to work in that state. Metric A evaluates the number of jobs within the state that are considered within the technology industry per capita (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Metric B measures the number of apprenticeship graduates per capita (US Department of Labor). Metric C measures the share of a state’s population with a “Graduate or professional degree”(US Census Bureau’s Educational Attainment). Metric D evaluates whether states allow workers to decide whether to join a union or force union participation (National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation). Metric E evaluates a state’s LGBTQ-related laws and policies on how protective or harmful they are (Movement Action Project -LGBTQ policy map). Each of these metrics is then normalized to create a score. The final letter grade from A+ to F is determined by the normalized combined score of the metrics.

This category evaluates a state’s access and quality of its broadband infrastructure. Metrics A-D measure a state’s median download and upload speeds for fixed and mobile broadband (Speed Test: Median Internet Speeds). Metric E measures the percentage of households with a broadband subscription (U.S. Census Bureau: ACS). Each of these metrics is then normalized to create a score. The final letter grade from A+ to F is determined by the normalized combined score of the metrics.

This category evaluates a state's manufacturing capabilities, focusing on production, manufacturers, and the manufacturing workforce. Metric A assesses manufacturing production and is split into two parts: A1 uses the manufacturing percentage of GDP, which measures a state’s emphasis on manufacturing while accounting for the overall size of its economy, while A2 assesses computer and electronic parts production as it encompasses a diverse range of components. Metric B evaluates the total number of manufacturers, providing insight into a state's overall manufacturing capacity and its business environment for manufacturers. Metric C examined the manufacturing workforce to determine a state’s ability to attract and sustain manufacturing employees, offering a broader perspective on workforce growth and industry appeal. Finally, Metric D looks at the percentage of the workforce that is in manufacturing. All data comes from the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and is supplemented by data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

This category measures how easy it is to start a new business in a state. There are four metrics used for this category. Metric A tracks the number of new jobs per capita created from Q4 2018 through Q3 2023 by firms with fewer than 50 employees (U.S. Census Bureau: QWI). Metric B measures the number of business applications with planned wages from September 2019 to August 2024 (Census: Business Formation Statistics). Metric C measures the amount of per capita venture capital investment and combined government and private sector research and development. Venture capital investment data comes from PitchBook. Metric D measures domestic R&D paid for by the company and others and performed by the company in 2021 (2023 Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) Survey). Each of these metrics is then normalized to create a score. The final letter grade from A+ to F is determined by the normalized average score of the metrics.