The tables in this report present data from the Business Enterprise Research and Development (BERD) Survey. The BERD Survey is the primary source of information on domestic and global research and development (R&D) expenditures and the R&D workforce for companies with 10 or more employees operating in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The BERD Survey is cosponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics and the Census Bureau. These data are used by government agencies, corporations, research organizations, and academics to assess trends in the performance and funding of R&D.

Businesses continued to increase their research and development (R&D) performance in 2023, spending $722 billion on R&D in the United States, a 4.4% increase from 2022. Funding from the companies’ own sources accounted for $635 billion of this spending in 2023, a 4.5% increase from 2022. Funding from other sources accounted for $86 billion, a 3.4% increase from 2022. Data for this InfoBrief are from the 2023 Business Enterprise Research and Development Survey, developed and cosponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation and by the Census Bureau, which collected and tabulated data for the survey.

These tables present the results of the Nonprofit Research Activities FY 2023 module of the 2024 Annual Business Survey, funded by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation. It is the fourth collection of nonprofit R&D data by the Annual Business Survey and the continuation of an annual data series for this population. These data are the primary source of information about tax-exempt nonprofit organizations’ R&D performance and funding in the United States.

U.S. nonprofit organizations spent an estimated $30.8 billion on research and experimental development (R&D) performed within their organizations in FY 2023, an increase of 10% in current dollars from FY 2022. The largest funding source for nonprofit R&D in FY 2023 was the federal government, contributing $12.4 billion, or 40%, of the total. Data are from the Nonprofit Research Activities (NPRA) FY 2023 module of the 2024 Annual Business Survey. The NPRA Survey was funded by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) within the U.S. National Science Foundation, and data collection was conducted by the Census Bureau.

The number of college graduates living in the United States reached 71.7 million in 2023, of which approximately 70.9 million had ever held a job. The number of employed college graduates increased by 4.3 million (8.3%) between 2021 and 2023, and the number of college graduates not working decreased by 1.3 million (7.9%). This growth in employment and decline in nonemployment coincided with the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and underlies a series of developments in the college-graduate labor market. This InfoBrief presents a comparison of selected labor market outcomes between the 2021 and 2023 cycles of the National Survey of College Graduates, sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Latest visualizations from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics using data from the National Patterns of R&D Resources (annual series) on federally funded research and development.

In 2022, there were 36 million individuals working in a STEM occupation; 51% had a sub-baccalaureate credential as their highest level of education attainment and 49% had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Additionally, 22 million STEM workers (15% of all workers) held a non-degree work credential. These work-related and sub-baccalaureate credentials can serve as an important catalyst in career entry or advancement. Data are from the 2022 National Training, Education, and Workforce Survey (NTEWS) Pilot, which has a special focus on the skilled technical workforce (workers highly skilled in STEM fields who do not possess a bachelor’s degree or higher), conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation.

These tables release data from the 2024 Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), an annual census of research doctorate recipients from U.S. universities. The tables include long-term trend data on doctorate recipients by field; educational pathways to the doctorate and sources of financial support; postgraduation employment plans; and representation of different demographic groups, and temporary visa holders among doctorate recipients. Data are also available in an interactive data tool (https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/builder/sed) and the Restricted Data Analysis System (https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/rdas/). The SED is sponsored by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation and by three other federal agencies: the National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, and National Endowment for the Humanities.

These data tables provide data on research and development (R&D) expenditures for federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs). Expenditures data are displayed for individually named FFRDCs, by source of funding and type of R&D. Data are from the FY 2024 FFRDC Research and Development Survey, conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) in the United States enable federal agencies to meet their research and development (R&D) needs through government-owned, contractor-operated research centers. These centers provide capabilities that cannot be met as effectively through other resources. The nation’s 42 FFRDCs spent $31.7 billion on R&D in FY 2024, an increase of $2.4 billion from FY 2023. These and the other statistics in this report come from the FY 2024 FFRDC Research and Development Survey, conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the U.S. National Science Foundation.