Economic Impact

Parans Paranthaman and Jayanthi Kumar perform direct lithium extraction from brine samples in a laboratory in Building 4100 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Big Science. Big Impact.

Scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory create tangible economic benefit across the nation.

As one of the nation’s premier federally funded research laboratories, ORNL operates at the center of the innovation ecosystem by translating federal research investment into scientific breakthroughs, technology commercialization, workforce development, and industry partnerships that strengthen productivity and contribute directly to long-term US economic growth.

Economic Impact Report

In fiscal year 2025, the laboratory created an economic output of $6.6 billion across the United States.

Read the report

ORNL By The Numbers

$6.6 billion: Total US economic impact in FY25

25,819: Total US jobs supported

$3.6 billion: Total Tennessee economic impact

$2.39: Economic impact per $1 funding

$497.5 million: Total spending with small businesses

3,179: Total technical publications/scholarly output

Collaboration Nation

ORNL’s broad range of partnerships allows us to pair our strengths with others for outstanding contributions to science while providing economic benefit across the United States. This interactive site showcases how ORNL engages all 50 states.

Find your state