A characteristic feature of the modern stage of economic development, which has covered almost all developed countries, is the formation of an innovative economy based on the generation, dissemination and use of knowledge. The main features of an innovative economy are high innovative activity of enterprises, development of intellectual capital, increasing the importance of scientific research and technological development, acceleration of the pace of technological development, formation of an innovative infrastructure. The contribution is devoted to the study of the concepts of «innovative potential» and «innovative development of a region» as socio-economic categories that allow classifying the regions of the Volga Federal District according to the degree of their scientific and technological progress. As part of the work, an integral index was calculated for assessing and analyzing the innovative potential. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the relationship between the innovative development of regions and the quality of labor resources. The study showed that some regions have the potential to increase the level of innovative development by attracting skilled labor. On this basis, proposals were developed for the redistribution of labor resources in the regions of the Volga Federal District, which will help to cope with the difficulties caused by the current market situation and foreign policy factors.