Massachusetts is the most tech savvy state, again

Here in Silicon Valley, we pride ourselves in our tech-savviness, but it turns out Massachusetts is once again the top tech-savvy state in the nation beating out California, Texas, and New York. The Milken Institute's 2008 State Technology and Science Index looked at five major areas before compiling the list below, which included the state's ability to attract funding, skilled tech workers, and new businesses. Here is the list of the top ten most tech savvy states:

1) Massachusetts
2) Maryland
3) Colorado
4) California
5) Washington
6) Virginia
7) Connecticut
8) Utah
9) New Hampshire
10) Rhode Island

Massachusetts remains the "gold standard" for other states thanks to its institutions, cutting-edge firms, and ability to retain a skilled work force. Living up to its reputation, the state just passed a $1 billion life sciences bill to invest in high-tech infrastructure over the next 10 years, which puts it in the best position to achieve high economic growth from its technology assets, according to the Milken Institute study.

California, on the other hand, slipped from second place to fourth place, while Maryland jumped from fourth place to second place. Some of the reasons California is slipping, according to the report, is the state's faltering efforts to capture federal funding and failure to build a skilled work force.

On the bright side, a different report from AeA says New York, Washington, Silicon Valley, Boston, and Dallas currently have the highest number of high-tech jobs. New York leads the pack with a total of 316,500 high-tech jobs, and Silicon Valley with 225,300. There may be more high-tech jobs in New York, but high-tech workers there get paid an average of $91,451, while Silicon Valley tech workers average the highest pay at $144,800.