New research identified California as the most conducive U.S. state to launch a tech startup, signaling the history of Silicon Valley and the state's habitable environment for innovative technologies. But if the West Coast isn't your thing, New York ranks second place – followed by Massachusetts, Florida and Texas.

The study conducted by M&A advising firm WebAcquisition assessed the 50 states based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Tax Foundation and the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.

The study's parameters included:

• Number of state residents ages 18-24 with a bachelor's degree in science and engineering (S&E)
• Percentage of S&E professionals in the workforce
• Venture capital (VC) investments relative to the national GDP
• Number of average business applications in the last five years
• Business survival rate
• Tax rates
• Average weekly wages
• Quality of life

Individual scores were combined and weighted for a final score out of 100.

Going forward, the leaderboard could evolve based on factors such as emerging tech hubs, policy innovation, economic shifts, investments in education and quality of life, according to Mushfiqur Sarker, founder of WebAcquisition.

Like Texas, states outside of the usual dominant technology strongholds can make efforts to foster innovation and attract talent and investors. And states with proactive policies that support tech startups could see unexpected improvements in their leadership status.

Furthermore, global events and fluctuating economic conditions will impact the amount of VC funding available and startup activity, which can result in challenges or opportunities. Plus, states that support and invest in education and workforce development will likely see their technology sectors grow. "Data on educational initiatives and STEM degrees conferred will be critical to watch," Sarker told SDxCentral.

In a surprise to few, California scored highest with over 430,000 business applications in the last five years, a healthy S&E workforce and substantial VC investment relative to GDP (0.4%), which is "a clear advantage," Sarker said.

Paired with a business survival rate of 55% and 27 S&E bachelor's degrees per 1,000 young adults, it scored 88/100. And while its VC ecosystem is certainly active, it has some room to grow – especially compared to its East Coast counterpart.

At No. 2, New York and its strong financial sector beats California in terms of funding, with VC investment representing 0.5% of GDP. This data "emphasizes the critical role of venture capital in fueling tech startups," Sarker said. New York also one-ups the leader with 31 S&E bachelor's degrees per 1,000 young adults.

The state has more than 260,000 business applications and a business survival rate of 54%, with a final score of 76.

Open-source SQL database company Cockroach Labs and IT talent provider Andela both launched in New York.

In third place, Massachusetts boasts 38 S&E bachelor's degrees per 1,000 young adults and a business survival rate of 55%, representing a supportive incubator for young tech companies. Plus, it holds a "reasonable" VC investment in tech at 0.4% of GDP. The state's ranking is knocked down by its number of business applications (more than 65,000 in the last five years), though it follows closely behind New York with a final score of 75.

Cybersecurity unicorn Snyk and cloud networking vendor Akamai Technologies got their start in Massachusetts.

While Florida has much less VC investment in technology at 0.1% of national GDP and just 20.6 S&E bachelor's degrees per 1,000 young adults, it stands out with more than 500,000 applications for tech businesses in the state, low tax rates and a survival rate of 50%.

But with lower quality of life and average weekly wages, Florida scored 73.5.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) security vendor ReliaQuest and managed IoT service provider Kore both launched in Florida.

Texas landed at No. 5 on the list, with 16 S&E bachelor's degrees per 1,000 young adults and a relatively low VC investment in technology (0.1%). The state did see more than 390,000 business applications in recent years with a survival rate of 51.5%, but its lower quality of life and average weekly wages pull its final score to 68.

Both the artificial intelligence (AI) startup SparkCognition and edge-cloud platform provider StackPath started in Texas.