Economic Impact of Health Research

Investment: Funding sources for overall research and development (2004)

Source of R&D Funding Investment State Rank
Federal Government $14,720,400,000 1
Industry $42,877,000,000 1
Universities $1,048,800,000 1
Non-profit $593,000,000 1
Other * $367,700,000 1
Total $59,607,000,000 1

* Other represents funding from state and local governments and funding for Federally Funded Research and Development Centers from non-federal sources.

Source: National Science Foundation, National Patterns of R&D Resources , 2006


Economic Impact: Statistics for research-driven health industries (2004)

Industry Employment Annual Salary
Pharmaceutical 40,503 $100,843
Medical Device 73,115 $73,193
Research, Testing, and Laboratories 70,872 $76,427
Overall Private Sector  $44,021

Source: Battelle Memorial Institute and Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Growing the Nation's Biotech Sector: State Bioscience Inititives 2006


Highlights from local economic impact studies

The California Biomedical Industry consists of 2,700 companies employing 258,000 with total revenues of $62 billion in 2006.

The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that the member medical schools and teaching hospitals in the state had a combined economic impact of $35.5 billion (ranked 3rd in the country) and a total employment impact of 200,000 in 2005.

California's Proposition 71 authorized $3 billion to support stem cell research and is expected to save between $6.4 and $12.6 billion in health care costs.

Each dollar produced in the life sciences sector in San Diego generates $1.10 beyond it through indirect and induced impacts. The life sciences industry in San Diego supports 55,600 jobs and has an economic impact of $5.8 billion dollars (accessing report requires registration).

Within the University of California system, every dollar of state-funded research in 2000-2001 led to an additional $3.89 through federal and private funding. Overall UC expenditures had an economic impact between $14 and $17 billion and supported 370,000 California jobs.

In 2005-2006, the UC Berkeley had a total economic impact of more than $1.5 billion in the Bay Area and supported more than 31,000 area jobs. In addition, UC Berkeley spent $469 million on research and reported 128 inventions.

UC Davis reports that every dollar the state invests in the university returns $5 to the state. UC Davis generated 45,000 jobs for California and contributed $2.7 billion to the state economy in 2001-2002.

UC Irvine has an annual economic impact of $3.6 billion in Orange County and employs more than 17,000 people.

Every taxpayer dollar invested in the University of California, Los Angeles generates nearly $15 in economic impact in the region. UCLA has a $9.3 billion impact on the area and supports 70,000 jobs.

The University of California, San Diego had a national economic impact of $5.1 billion and generated 319,000 jobs nationwide.

The University of California, San Francisco generates more than 23,000 jobs and reported $1.8 billion in sales in 2003.