The aim of this article is to assess the innovative potential of Polish regional economies. The article discusses various definitions of the category of innovative potential. On the path of achieving the goal, two taxonomic methods and a method that using transition matrices which come from the Markov chain theory were used. The analysis leads to the following conclusions. Firstly, the results confirmed the findings of other researchers that the best developed regions in terms of their ability to develop innovation are mazowiecki, dolnośląski, śląski, małopolski and wielkopolski, while the least developed regions are podlaski, warmińsko-mazurski, lubuski and opolski. Secondly, the ability to develop innovation is stable over time. The transition from the lower to the higher level takes place in multiannual cycles and is related to the effectiveness of the regional innovation ecosystem.