Economic Impact of Health Research
Investment: Funding sources for overall research and development (2007)
| Source of R&D Funding | Investment | State Rank |
| Federal Government | $3,289,000,000 | 27 |
| Industry | $870,000,000 | 31 |
| Universities | $152,000,000 | 19 |
| Non-profit | $26,000,000 | 30 |
| Other * | $17,000,000 | 39 |
| Total | $4,354,000,000 | 27 |
* 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, 2008
Population (2011)
| Residents | State Rank | |
| Population, June 1, 2011 | 4,779,736 | 23 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census Data
Economic Impact: Statistics for research-driven health industries (2008)
| Industry | Employment | Annual Salary |
| Pharmaceutical | 783 | $51,043 |
| Medical Device | 2,779 | $38,363 |
| Research, Testing, and Laboratories | 3,783 | $56,085 |
| Overall Private Sector | 1,570,232 | $37,772 |
Source: Battelle and Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), BIO State Bioscience Initiatives, 2010
Highlights from local economic impact studies
United for Medical Research's 2011 study, An Economic Engine, shows that in 2010, NIH invested $253,000,000 in Alabama, producing 5,218 new jobs.
Birmingham, AL's Innovation Depot, a business incubator focused on life sciences, biotechnology and information science, poured $1 billion into the local economy in 2010.
The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that the member medical schools and teaching hospitals in Alabama had a combined economic impact of $5.2 billion and a total employment impact of 33,626 in 2008.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has an economic impact of more than $3 billion on the Birmingham metro area and accounts for 52,900 local jobs.
According to a report from BIO and Battelle, The Cumming Research Park is creating a Biotech Campus which will house the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology. This new institute is expected to employ 500-600 by 2008 and up to 1,600 in 10 years.
