It may not surprising to those who live here, but Massachusetts has been named the most innovative state in the country by a recent Wallethub study.

Innovation is a principal driver of U.S. economic growth and in 2019, the U.S. will spend an estimated $581 billion on research and development – more than any other country in the world and about 25 percent of the world’s total.

In order to recognize the nation’s biggest contributors, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 24 key indicators of innovation-friendliness ranging from share of STEM professionals to R&D spending per capita to tech-company density.

Massachusetts scored a 72.31 on Wallethub’s innovation index, more than four full points ahead of the second-ranked Washington state. The District of Columbia, Maryland and Colorado rounded out the top five.

Massachusetts tied for first when it came to highest venture capital funding per capita and highest R&D spending per capita. The Bay State also ranked fourth in best eighth grade math and science performance, fifth in highest projected STEM-job demand by 2020 and fourth in highest share of STEM professionals.