MATTERS

Discover What MATTERS™ in Your State

The Massachusetts High Technology Council developed the Massachusetts Technology, Talent and Economic Reporting System (MATTERS™) to advance our mission to make Massachusetts the world’s most attractive place to live and work, and in which to create and grow high technology businesses. The High Tech Council initially launched MATTERS in 2015 in partnership with the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. This revamped version will expand the platform with an updated design for sleek visualization and new features for accessibility.

Our 50-State Competitiveness Dashboard and Technology Workforce Dashboard provide private sector employers, public officials, and advocates with dynamic data to inform public policy decisions that help attract and retain business to the state.

About the 50-State Competitiveness Dashboard

The 50-State Competitiveness Dashboard measures and evaluates Massachusetts’ current competitive position on a range of indicators to capture key characteristics related to economic competitiveness and the business environment. These indicators are grouped into six composite indices to enable comparison of Massachusetts’ innovation economy to other states:

1. 1. Cost of Doing Business – Captures principal expenses that businesses incur operating within each state
   2. Quality of Life – Highlights key measures of livability and quality of life for comparison across states
   3. Talent and Workforce – Profiles each state’s talent pool and labor market conditions
   4. Tax Environment – Reports key dimensions of tax burden in each state
   5. Fiscal Stability and Public Management – Illustrates each state government’s ability to manage its finances across key spending areas and fiscal practices
   6. Growth and Innovation Climate – Provides measures that reflect conditions conducive to growth in the innovation economy, specifically in sectors where technology occupations make up a growing share of the workforce

Each index ranks states based on the computation of weighted sums to ensure suitability for comparison. The state rankings are displayed in the overview maps for each index. A detailed, 50-state view of the most recent data available for each measure is below the index maps, accompanied by trend data comparing Massachusetts to five innovation economy peer states: California, Colorado, Maryland, Utah, and Washington.

About the Technology Workforce Dashboard

The Technology Workforce Dashboard illustrates dynamic technology occupational and industry data, providing several takeaway statistics about the Massachusetts technology workforce and its economic importance. The dashboard emphasizes key facets of technology employment across all industries, with a focus on professions that draw graduates with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees. Along with visualizations of data directly related to occupations, such as educational attainment, pipeline, earnings, skills in demand, and job growth, the dashboard breaks down demographic data, including age distribution, gender, and race-ethnicity, by technology job type.