WalletHub, a personal finance website, released a report on the most innovative states in the U.S., providing a type of economic outlook for the various areas in the months and years ahead.

The researchers, composed of three educational institution leaders, compiled the list by using 18 different key metrics, including research and development (R&D) spending per capita, average internet speed, and highest proportion of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals.

What they found is that the most innovative state isn’t officially a state at all, as District of Columbia ranks the highest, with Maryland, Massachusetts, California, and Colorado following in succession.

As for the least innovative states, West Virginia is rated the lowest, and Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Oklahoma are respectively graded the worst in that order.

Here is the complete list:

1. District of Columbia
2. Maryland
3. Massachusetts
4. California
5. Colorado
6. Washington
7. Virginia
8. Utah
9. Connecticut
10. New Hampshire
11. Oregon
12. New Jersey
13. Delaware
14. Michigan
15. Texas
16. New York
17. Arizona
18. New Mexico
19. Florida
20. Minnesota
21. Georgia
22. Illinois
23. North Carolina
24. Rhode Island
25. Alaska
26. Pennsylvania
27. Wyoming
28. Vermont
29. Nevada
30. Ohio
31. Montana
32. Indiana
33. Wisconsin
34. Idaho
35. Nebraska
36. Alabama
37. Hawaii
38. Kansas
39. Missouri
40. Arkansas
41. South Carolina
42. Maine
43. South Dakota
44. Iowa
45. Tennessee
46. North Dakota
47. Oklahoma
48. Kentucky
49. Louisiana
50. Mississippi
51. West Virginia

Other factors that went into the algorithm were share of technology companies, in which Virginia ranked highest with 7.52 percent, 3.9 times higher than its neighbor West Virginia’s 1.95 percent rate, and “tax-friendliness.”

Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, Florida, and Nevada are graded as having the best tax system, according to the Tax Foundation, which WalletHub cites. New Jersey, New York, California, Vermont, and Minnesota, in that order, rank as the “most complex, non-neutral” and business inhibitive tax systems.

“Drone-Friendly Laws” were also part of the larger grading method. (RELATED: Drone Delivery: Amazon Chose UK Over US Because Of Fewer Regulations)

But living in a state with relatively bleak innovation numbers doesn’t mean the state is completely void of an advanced economic infrastructure. As a country, the U.S. ranks fourth in the world on the Global Innovation Index.

Follow Eric on Twitter

Send tips to eric@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.