CognitiveAristocracy
Detail

Iowa

Midwest State Power #30/51Per-capita #32
State Power
33.7
of 100 · #30
SPI
33.7
SCC
33.6
SDI
35.3

Pillar profile

Talent29.0
Capital21.8
Research32.7
Infrastructure49.1
Agentic35.3

Nearest peers (per-capita)

Report · generated from Iowa's indicators

Iowa — standing in full

Iowa is the #30 state by economic size ($230bn GSP) and ranks #30/51 on absolute State Power and #32/51 on per-capita intensity. No pillar stands out as a clear strength; the binding concern is talent.

Economic & scale context

GDP
$230bn
#30 of 51
GDP / capita
$72k
Population
3.2M
AI investment
$1.4bn
#32 of 51
Notable AI orgs
10

Index & pillar read

Index / pillarValueStandingWhat a high vs low value means — and where Iowa sits
SPI State Power33.7Moderate · #30/51Mid-pack. High would mean a heavyweight that anchors national AI capacity and pulls in capital and talent; low would mean limited absolute weight — a smaller node leaning on capacity built in larger states.
▲ high: a heavyweight that anchors national AI capacity and pulls in capital and talent  ·  ▼ low: limited absolute weight — a smaller node leaning on capacity built in larger states
SCC State Coefficient33.6Moderate · #32/51Mid-pack. High would mean deep capability per resident — a concentrated, high-intensity AI economy; low would mean thin intensity per resident — capability is sparse relative to population.
▲ high: deep capability per resident — a concentrated, high-intensity AI economy  ·  ▼ low: thin intensity per resident — capability is sparse relative to population
SDI State Agentic35.3Developing · #34/51Low here — agentic deployment is shallow — the local agent lever is under-used.
▲ high: agents are widely deployed locally — a near-term productivity multiplier  ·  ▼ low: agentic deployment is shallow — the local agent lever is under-used
Talent Talent29.0Developing · #37/51Low here — a shallow talent base that constrains how much can be built locally.
▲ high: a deep talent pool — the scarcest input to building AI  ·  ▼ low: a shallow talent base that constrains how much can be built locally
Capital Capital21.8Developing · #34/51Low here — thin investment — good ideas struggle to scale locally.
▲ high: abundant capital flowing into building cognitive infrastructure  ·  ▼ low: thin investment — good ideas struggle to scale locally
Research Research32.7Moderate · #31/51Mid-pack. High would mean a strong research base feeding a pipeline of ideas and people; low would mean a weak research base — fewer home-grown breakthroughs and spinouts.
▲ high: a strong research base feeding a pipeline of ideas and people  ·  ▼ low: a weak research base — fewer home-grown breakthroughs and spinouts
Infrastructure Infrastructure49.1Moderate · #27/51Mid-pack. High would mean the physical and digital rails to run AI at scale are in place; low would mean infrastructure gaps cap how much AI can actually be run locally.
▲ high: the physical and digital rails to run AI at scale are in place  ·  ▼ low: infrastructure gaps cap how much AI can actually be run locally
Agentic Agentic35.3Developing · #34/51Low here — little agentic deployment — the near-term lever is unused.
▲ high: agents are actively deployed — an early-mover productivity edge  ·  ▼ low: little agentic deployment — the near-term lever is unused

Strengths to build on

  • No pillar stands out as a clear strength yet.

Risk factors

  • Binding weakness — Talent 29.0 (#37/51, Developing): a shallow talent base that constrains how much can be built locally.
State values are curated v1 estimates on a consistent scale — not yet measured sub-national data.