Arizona ranks 15th overall in a national comparison of states in science and technology, up two places from the last ranking in 2008. The Milken Institute report, 2010 State Technology and Science Index: Enduring Lessons for the Intangible Economy "looks at 79 unique indicators that are categorized into five major components: Research and Development Inputs, Risk Capital and Entrepreneurial Infrastructure, Human Capital Investment, Technology and Science Work Force, and Technology Concentration and Dynamism."
Reporter Patrick O'Grady, writing at the Phoenix Business Blog says "Dragging the overall ranking down, however, is what Arizona has done in terms of educating workers that can supply technology jobs. The state ranked 32nd on the human capital investment scale."
It's interesting to see that 3 of the top 5 states border Arizona.
The top ten (with previous Index rankings in 2008):
1.Massachusetts (1)
2.Maryland (2)
3.Colorado (3)
4.California (4)
5.Utah (8)
6.Washington (5)
7.New Hampshire (9)
8.Virginia (6)
9.Connecticut (7)
10.Delaware (14)