Cutting-edge research in the United States is concentrated in large urban centers. Here are the cities whose universities and colleges spent the most on science and engineering R&D.

Research by Nicole Gauvin

City — R&D expenditures by the city’s universities and colleges in 2004 (dollars in thousands)^1^

1. Baltimore, MD—1,750,904^2^

2. Los Angeles, CA—1,527,602

3. Boston, MA—1,521,001

4. New York, NY—1,512,632

5. Philadelphia, PA—1,475,536

6. San Francisco, CA—1,388,218^3^

7. Chicago, IL—1,105,317

8. Houston, TX—1,099,652

9. Durham/Chapel Hill, NC—937,598

10. Atlanta, GA—784,330

^1^Includes universities and colleges within a 20-mile radius of each city center

^2^Includes Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, which spent $670 million on R&D

^3^Not including Stanford University. If Stanford was included, the figure would be 2,059,264, which would place San Francisco at the top of the list

Source: National Science Foundation