1 The section “Elementary and Secondary Mathematics and Science” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Elementary and Secondary STEM Education.”

2 All comparisons of TIMSS and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores in this section of the report are statistically significant at the 0.10 level of significance.

3 Average scores declined from 2019 to 2022 by a statistically significant amount for all racial and ethnic groups shown except for American Indians or Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders.

4 The section “S&E Higher Education in the United States” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Higher Education in Science and Engineering.” The Higher Education report also provides further breakouts by sex and race or ethnicity.

5 For Figure 4, the U.S. population data reflect the percentage of people in each racial and ethnic group in the U.S. population from ages 20–34 years old on 1 July 2021. Degree totals may differ from those cited elsewhere in the report; degrees awarded to people of unknown or other race were excluded, as were degree earners on temporary visas.

6 The section “International S&E Higher Education and Student Mobility” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Higher Education in Science and Engineering.”

7 For Figure 5, to facilitate international comparison, data for the United States are those reported to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which vary slightly from the NCSES classification of fields presented in other sections of the report.

8 For Figure 6, the data reflect fall enrollment in a given year and include students with “active” status as of 15 November of that year. Data include active foreign national students on F-1 visas and exclude those approved for optional practical training. Undergraduate level includes associate’s and bachelor’s degrees; graduate level includes master’s and doctoral degrees.

9 The section “The STEM Labor Market and the Economy” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers.”

10 All comparative statements on STEM workforce, foreign-born S&E workers with at least a bachelor’s degree, and stay rates of S&E research doctorate recipients on temporary visas that are based on sample surveys are statistically significant at the 0.10 level of significance.

11 Because STEM employment measures are based on estimates, not all states in the top quartile on these measures are statistically significantly different from all states not ranking in the top quartile. For more information on the geographical distribution of the STEM workforce by education level, see the Indicators 2024 report “The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers.”

12 The section “Demographic Composition of the STEM Workforce” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “The STEM Labor Force: Scientists, Engineers, and Skilled Technical Workers.”

13 The section “Americans’ Perceptions about Scientists” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Science and Technology: Public Perceptions, Awareness, and Information Sources.”

14 For Figure 10, responses are to the following: How much confidence, if any, do you have in [scientists] to act in the best interests of the public?

15 In this section, some college includes individuals with some college credit or an associate’s degree, college degree includes bachelor’s degree holders, and postgraduate includes individuals with a master’s degree, advanced professional degree, or doctoral degree.

16 International comparisons of R&D expenditures are measured in current dollars, adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP; see Glossary section for definition).

17 The section “U.S. R&D Performance and Funding Trends” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Research and Development: U.S. Trends and International Comparisons.” Refer to this report and the section on Research and Development at the NCSES website for the latest data because estimates in this section may be subject to revision.

18 Data for the United States in this section and its accompanying figures reflect NCSES standards for domestic reporting of U.S. total R&D. This results in marginal differences from the data on gross expenditures on R&D that NCSES provides to OECD for international comparisons. Unless otherwise stated, all measurements of U.S. R&D performance in this report are in current dollars, unadjusted for inflation; inflation-adjusted amounts (constant dollars) will be provided in the Indicators 2024 report “Research and Development: U.S. Trends and International Comparisons.”

19 U.S. business R&D is the R&D performed by companies domiciled in the United States. It includes the R&D performed by the company and paid for by the company itself (from company-owned, U.S.-located units or from subsidiaries overseas). It also includes the R&D performed by the company and paid for by others, such as other companies (domestic or foreign, including parent companies of foreign-owned subsidiaries located in the United States), the U.S. federal government, nonfederal government (state and local or foreign), and nonprofit or other organizations (domestic or foreign).

20 The business sector’s share of U.S. R&D funding reported here (75%) includes funding from both domestic and foreign businesses (foreign parent companies, foreign subsidiaries, and unaffiliated foreign companies). It is higher than the share reported in the prior section (68%), which includes only R&D funded by domestic businesses per OECD standards for internationally comparable R&D statistics.

21 Federal R&D obligations data for 2021 include the additional funding provided by supplemental COVID-19 pandemic-related appropriations. For more information, see data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Research and Development: U.S. Trends and International Comparisons.”

22 For more information, see data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Academic Research and Development.”

23 Including geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences.

24 The section “Research Publications” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Publications Output: U.S. Trends and International Comparisons.”

25 The section “Invention and Innovation” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Invention, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation.”

26 For the data presented in this paragraph, USPTO patents are fractionally allocated among regions, countries, or economies based on the proportion of residences of all named inventors.

27 For discussion of the methodology used to determine the gender of inventors, see the Indicators 2024 report “Invention, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation”: Technical Appendix.

28 The section “Knowledge- and Technology-Intensive Industry Output” draws on data and sources in the Indicators 2024 report “Production and Trade of Knowledge- and Technology-Intensive Industries.”

29 Data on goods trade in this report include an additional industry, weapons manufacturing.

30 All measurements of KTI industries in this section are provided in current dollars, unadjusted for inflation.