Table 2.

Growth in productivity in the 20 metropolitan areas with the largest increase in patents per worker (1980–2010)

	Change in patents per million workers, 1980–2010	Annual productivity growth, 1980–2010 (%)	Predicted productivity growth, 1980–2010 (%)	Change in bachelors degree attainment 1980–2010 (%)
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	13,206	3.3	2.2	18.4
Burlington-South Burlington, VT	8,355	2.1	1.7	16.6
Corvallis, OR	6,644	2.6	1.1	11.3
Winchester, VA-WV	6,633	1.6	1.6	10.5
Rochester, MN	6,536	1.6	0.9	14.0
Charlottesville, VA	4,491	1.4	1.4	15.1
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY	4,219	1.8	1.4	12.7
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	4,059	1.9	1.2	17.5
Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, VA	3,709	1.3	1.2	11.5
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	3,591	1.9	1.3	12.8
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	3,547	1.7	1.1	13.7
Boulder, CO	3,182	2.3	1.8	20.6
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	2,957	1.3	1.5	14.8
Raleigh-Cary, NC	2,848	2.3	1.9	19.8
Ann Arbor, MI	2,602	1.1	1.5	14.7
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA	2,357	2.2	1.3	13.1
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	2,212	1.9	1.5	17.8
Provo-Orem, UT	2,062	0.5	1.3	12.0
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	2,056	2.5	1.3	13.9
Racine, WI	2,046	1.0	1.8	9.0
Average for top 20 metros	4,366	1.8	1.5	14.5
Average of all metro areas	395	1.4	1.4	9.7

Annual growth was largest in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara with a 3.3% growth and 18.4% increase in BA degrees awarded

Source: Brookings analysis of Strumsky database, U.S. Census Bureau, and Moody’s Analytics. Patent totals for 1980 and 2010 are based on 5 years moving averages that end in those years, since patent data fluctuates from year to year. Figures are based on application year of patents already granted. Predicated industry productivity multiplies metro area employment shares by sector by national productivity for each sector. The growth rate is calculated using 1980 and 2010 measures