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Science in United States

The United States ranks #2 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#1 all time), with 3.1M research works and 17.5% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#2
of 192 · #1 all time
Works, 2022–2025
3.1M
▲ 8% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
17.5%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
28
175 in the top 1,000
Open access
33%
world 63%

What is United States strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, the United States ranks highest in Medicine (#1 of 155), Social Sciences (#1 of 151) and Sociology and Political Science (#1 of 122). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Library and Information Sciences, Transplantation and General Psychology.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
MedicineField #1 of 155 15.2%884,851 Institutions
Social SciencesField #1 of 151 20.4%333,352 Institutions
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #1 of 122 21.3%111,398 Institutions
PsychologyField #1 of 109 20.2%136,823 Institutions
Health ProfessionsField #1 of 108 17.7%104,617 Institutions
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #1 of 108 19.7%215,064 Institutions
Arts and HumanitiesField #1 of 106 15.3%85,432 Institutions
Political Science and International RelationsSubfield #1 of 97 17.2%39,513 Institutions
SurgerySubfield #1 of 88 13.9%113,620 Institutions
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational HealthSubfield #1 of 86 17.7%63,501 Institutions
General Health ProfessionsSubfield #1 of 86 18.5%63,153 Institutions
Decision SciencesField #1 of 79 18.2%30,171 Institutions

Where its research is concentrated

Location quotient: how much more — or less — of each node it does than its size predicts. Drawn around 1×, where “twice the world share” and “half of it” are the same distance apart in opposite directions. A volume reading, which on a country axis is largely population and industrial structure.

  1. Library and Information SciencesSubfield · 1,516.0 works2.6×
  2. TransplantationSubfield · 3,485.6 works2.6×
  3. General PsychologySubfield · 755.0 works2.4×
  4. Issues, ethics and legal aspectsSubfield · 1,420.8 works2.2×
  5. AgingSubfield · 1,629.4 works2.2×
  6. Family PracticeSubfield · 3,114.5 works2.1×
  7. Structural BiologySubfield · 1,031.9 works2.1×
  8. General Decision SciencesSubfield · 1,168.1 works2.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

The whole field profile

All 26 fields at once. A specialist and a generalist produce the same ranked list and a completely different shape.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.56× its world share, 82k worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.32× its world share, 215k worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.40× its world share, 43k worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.59× its world share, 79k worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.83× its world share, 8,900 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.64× its world share, 6,842 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.65× its world share, 31k worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.76× its world share, 181k worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.18× its world share, 56k worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.43× its world share, 12k worksEnergyEngineering: 0.66× its world share, 301k worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.83× its world share, 125k worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.54× its world share, 57k worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.99× its world share, 36k worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.28× its world share, 87k worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.62× its world share, 9,128 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.30× its world share, 105k worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.51× its world share, 885k worksMedicineNursing: 0.93× its world share, 14k worksNursingVeterinary: 1.42× its world share, 5,868 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.97× its world share, 85k worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.61× its world share, 60k worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.02× its world share, 30k worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.01× its world share, 66k worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.47× its world share, 137k worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.86× its world share, 333k worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Neuroscience, 1.6×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in United States?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Epidemiology, Inflammation, Mental Health, Climate Change, Machine Learning, Quality of Life, Public Health and Risk Factors.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this country's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Epidemiology176k▲ 1.46×140 topics
  2. Machine Learning86k◆ 0.87×97 topics
  3. Climate Change81k◆ 0.99×132 topics
  4. Inflammation78k▲ 1.22×83 topics
  5. Deep Learning77k▼ 0.74×85 topics
  6. Mental Health66k▲ 1.48×48 topics
  7. Quality of Life60k▲ 1.35×61 topics
  8. Public Health59k▲ 1.34×77 topics
  9. Oxidative Stress54k◆ 1.08×63 topics
  10. Risk Factors53k▲ 1.57×37 topics
  11. Treatment53k▲ 1.42×52 topics
  12. Globalization51k▼ 0.84×186 topics
  13. Sustainability46k▼ 0.61×140 topics
  14. Cardiovascular Disease44k▲ 1.30×39 topics
  15. Cancer44k◆ 1.07×59 topics
  16. Diagnosis41k▲ 1.44×41 topics
  17. Depression40k▲ 1.50×26 topics
  18. Immunotherapy38k▲ 1.73×19 topics
  19. Healthcare35k◆ 1.02×44 topics
  20. Metabolic Syndrome32k▲ 1.28×24 topics
  21. Chemotherapy32k▲ 1.48×25 topics
  22. Management31k▲ 1.30×40 topics
  23. Genetics31k▲ 1.46×27 topics
  24. Clinical Trials31k▲ 1.50×19 topics
  25. Biomarkers30k▲ 1.46×18 topics
  26. Neurological Disorders29k▲ 1.67×20 topics
  27. Obesity28k▲ 1.23×29 topics
  28. Mortality28k▲ 1.58×13 topics
  29. History27k▲ 1.28×66 topics
  30. Social Support26k▲ 1.55×20 topics
  31. Aging26k▲ 1.58×19 topics
  32. Complications25k▲ 1.66×17 topics
  33. Guidelines24k▲ 1.70×13 topics
  34. Genetic Mutations23k▲ 1.78×23 topics
  35. Heart Failure23k▲ 1.77×14 topics
  36. Clinical Practice Guidelines23k▲ 1.40×14 topics
  37. Prognostic Factors23k▲ 1.72×14 topics
  38. Anxiety23k▲ 1.57×12 topics
  39. Primary Care21k▲ 1.83×15 topics
  40. Health Disparities20k▲ 2.5×9 topics

How many world-class institutions does United States hold?

Average quality and elite capacity disagree by construction, and both are worth knowing: the first is decided by a country’s whole institution population, the second counts the institutions it holds at the top. One square per institution.

in the world top 501351st to 100th15101st to 500th71501st to 1,000th76

Bands are exclusive, so the squares add up to 175 — the institutions it holds in the world top 1,000 — and not to four times it.

Which universities in United States lead research?

Harvard University, Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology rank highest in United States on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%20%40%mean 24.16%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →Harvard University: 25k, 28.6%Stanford University: 24k, 25.5%Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 13k, 27.8%Yale University: 20k, 21.8%Cornell University: 20k, 23.6%University of California, Berkeley: 17k, 21.8%University of California San Diego: 17k, 22.3%University of Michigan: 28k, 21.5%University of Pennsylvania: 19k, 23.5%University of California, Los Angeles: 19k, 21.7%Princeton University: 8,823, 28.4%University of Washington: 21k, 22.8%Columbia University: 17k, 23.1%Johns Hopkins University: 22k, 22.5%California Institute of Technology: 4,861, 27.5%Harvard UniversityMassachusetts Instit…Stanford UniversityYale University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per institution in the list below. The upper left is the interesting corner.

  1. 1Harvard UniversityUniversity · Cambridge · #4 worldwide28.6% top 10% · 25k works
  2. 2Stanford UniversityUniversity · Stanford · #8 worldwide25.5% top 10% · 24k works
  3. 3Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity · Cambridge · #12 worldwide27.8% top 10% · 13k works
  4. 4Yale UniversityUniversity · New Haven · #30 worldwide21.8% top 10% · 20k works
  5. 5Cornell UniversityUniversity · Ithaca · #31 worldwide23.6% top 10% · 20k works
  6. 6University of California, BerkeleyUniversity · Berkeley · #32 worldwide21.8% top 10% · 17k works
  7. 7University of California San DiegoUniversity · San Diego · #33 worldwide22.3% top 10% · 17k works
  8. 8University of MichiganUniversity · Ann Arbor · #35 worldwide21.5% top 10% · 28k works
  9. 9University of PennsylvaniaUniversity · Philadelphia · #36 worldwide23.5% top 10% · 19k works
  10. 10University of California, Los AngelesUniversity · Los Angeles · #38 worldwide21.7% top 10% · 19k works
  11. 11Princeton UniversityUniversity · Princeton · #40 worldwide28.4% top 10% · 8.8k works
  12. 12University of WashingtonUniversity · Seattle · #48 worldwide22.8% top 10% · 21k works
  13. 13Columbia UniversityUniversity · New York · #49 worldwide23.1% top 10% · 17k works
  14. 14Johns Hopkins UniversityUniversity · Baltimore · #51 worldwide22.5% top 10% · 22k works
  15. 15California Institute of TechnologyUniversity · Pasadena · #56 worldwide27.5% top 10% · 4.9k works

The track on each row is its top-10% rate; the tick is the world’s rate in this record, 16.5% — teal above it, red below.

All ranked institutions in United States

Who are the top researchers in United States?

Roger Chou, Noam Chomsky and Charles Tilly rank highest among researchers based in United States.

  1. 1 Roger Chou · #6 worldwide 14k citations · 187 works
  2. 2 Noam Chomsky · #7 worldwide 3.7k citations · 239 works
  3. 3 Charles Tilly · #8 worldwide 3.7k citations · 238 works
  4. 4 Li Fei-Fei · #9 worldwide 17k citations · 188 works
  5. 5 John P. A. Ioannidis · #10 worldwide 8k citations · 222 works
  6. 6 E. L. Wright · #13 worldwide 9.3k citations · 228 works
  7. 7 Ronald C. Kessler · #14 worldwide 9.8k citations · 232 works
  8. 8 Norman K. Denzin · #16 worldwide 8.6k citations · 169 works
  9. 9 Michael E. Porter · #19 worldwide 4.7k citations · 226 works
  10. 10 Steven Long · #20 worldwide 4.9k citations · 181 works
Top researchers in United States

Which cities in United States are research hubs?

  1. 1 New York United States 1M works
  2. 2 Washington D.C. United States 784k works
  3. 3 Boston United States 533k works
  4. 4 Cambridge United States 477k works
  5. 5 Los Angeles United States 460k works
  6. 6 Chicago United States 448k works
  7. 7 Philadelphia United States 446k works
  8. 8 Baltimore United States 379k works
  9. 9 Houston United States 376k works
  10. 10 Atlanta United States 331k works
  11. 11 Seattle United States 318k works
  12. 12 Pittsburgh United States 310k works

How much of it is in the largest

The same cities as shares of everything these twelve account for.

New York: 17.4%Washington D.C.: 13.3%Boston: 9.1%Cambridge: 8.1%8 others listed: 52.1%17%largest
New York1.0M · 17.4%Washington D.C.784k · 13.3%Boston533k · 9.1%Cambridge477k · 8.1%8 others listed3.1M · 52.1%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

How open and international is United States's research?

33% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 14% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available33.4%not open66.6%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors14.3%domestic only85.7%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has United States's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research fields in United States