Visualizing America’s $20 Trillion Economy By State

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Visualizing America’s $20 Trillion Economy By State

A sum of its parts, every U.S. state plays an integral role in the country’s overall economy.

Texas, for example, generates an economic output that is comparable to South Korea’s, and even a small geographical area like Washington, D.C. outputs over $129 billion per year.

The visualization below by Visual Capitalist’s Avery Koop and Joyce Ma uses 2022 annual data out of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) to showcase each state or district’s real gross domestic product (GDP) in chained 2012 dollars, while also highlighting personal income per capita.

A Closer Look at the States

California is by far the biggest state economy in the U.S. at $2.9 trillion in real GDP—and when comparing its nominal value ($3.6 trillion) with national GDPs worldwide, the Golden State’s GDP would rank 5th overall, just below Germany and Japan.

Here’s an up-close look at the data:

Rank State Real GDP (chained 2012 dollars)
1 California $2.9 trillion
2 Texas $1.9 trillion
3 New York $1.6 trillion
4 Florida $1.1 trillion
5 Illinois $798 billion
6 Pennsylvania $726 billion
7 Ohio $639 billion
8 Georgia $591 billion
9 Washington $582 billion
T9 New Jersey $582 billion
11 North Carolina $560 billion
12 Massachusetts $544 billion
13 Virginia $513 billion
14 Michigan $490 billion
15 Colorado $386 billion
16 Maryland $369 billion
17 Tennessee $368 billion
18 Arizona $356 billion
19 Indiana $353 billion
20 Minnesota $350 billion
21 Wisconsin $312 billion
22 Missouri $301 billion
23 Connecticut $253 billion
24 Oregon $235 billion
25 South Carolina $226 billion
26 Louisiana $217 billion
27 Alabama $213 billion
28 Kentucky $201 billion
29 Utah $192 billion
30 Oklahoma $191 billion
31 Iowa $177 billion
32 Nevada $165 billion
T32 Kansas $165 billion
34 District of Columbia $129 billion
35 Arkansas $127 billion
36 Nebraska $124 billion
37 Mississippi $105 billion
38 New Mexico $95 billion
39 Idaho $84 billion
40 New Hampshire $83 billion
41 Hawaii $75 billion
42 West Virginia $72 billion
43 Delaware $66 billion
44 Maine $65 billion
45 Rhode Island $55 billion
46 North Dakota $53 billion
47 South Dakota $50 billion
T47 Montana $50 billion
T47 Alaska $50 billion
50 Wyoming $36 billion
51 Vermont $31 billion
  United States $20 trillion

Altogether, California, New York, and Texas account for almost one-third of the country’s economy, combining for $6.3 trillion in real GDP in 2022. The only other state that reached the trillion dollar mark is Florida with $1.1 trillion.

Texas’ economy is driven largely by industries like advanced manufacturing, biotech, life sciences, aerospace, and defense. The state is also home to a number of large companies, like Tesla and Texas Instruments, which make it a hub for jobs, innovation, and opportunity.

New York state is a leader in the insurance, agribusiness, clean energy, and cyber security industries, among many others. Zooming into the New York City area reveals huge sources of economic output from the tourism, media, and financial services sectors.

Regional Disparities

While the aforementioned states are the big hitters, the median GDP per state was much lower at $217 billion in 2022.

Under the BEA’s eight region breakdown, all states in the Great Lakes region had GDPs that were higher than the median, reflecting the industrial strength of states like Illinois and Ohio. Most of the states in the Mideast region including New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland also have GDPs higher than the country median.

Comparatively, many states in the Plains region had lower GDPs, including Iowa and Kansas. Other states with lower GDPs (and generally lower populations) were spread around the country, including lowest-ranked Vermont in New England.

Personal Income per Capita

In addition to real GDP, this voronoi diagram has been color-coded in terms of personal income per capita in each state. Here’s a closer look at those figures:

Rank State Personal Income per Capita
1 District of Columbia $96,728
2 Connecticut $84,972
3 Massachusetts $84,945
4 New Jersey $78,700
5 New York $78,089
6 California $77,339
7 Washington $75,698
8 New Hampshire $74,663
9 Colorado $74,167
10 Wyoming $71,342
11 Maryland $70,730
12 Alaska $68,919
13 Illinois $68,822
14 Virginia $68,211
15 Minnesota $68,010
16 North Dakota $66,184
17 South Dakota $65,806
18 Rhode Island $65,377
19 Pennsylvania $65,167
20 Florida $63,597
21 Nebraska $63,321
22 Vermont $63,206
23 Oregon $62,767
24 Texas $61,985
25 Delaware $61,387
26 Nevada $61,282
27 Wisconsin $61,210
28 Hawaii $61,175
29 Kansas $60,152
30 Maine $59,463
31 Iowa $58,905
32 Tennessee $58,279
33 Indiana $57,930
34 Utah $57,925
35 Ohio $57,880
36 Montana $57,719
37 North Carolina $57,416
38 Georgia $57,129
39 Michigan $56,813
40 Arizona $56,667
41 Missouri $56,551
42 Oklahoma $54,998
43 Louisiana $54,622
44 Idaho $54,537
45 South Carolina $53,320
46 Kentucky $52,109
47 Arkansas $51,787
48 New Mexico $51,500
49 Alabama $50,637
50 West Virginia $49,169
51 Mississippi $46,248

Economic Engines and Future Growth

Many of the largest state economies are fueled by strong urban populations. These metropolitan cities are the economic engines of the country, driving innovation and attracting new talent.

The NYC-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area is a great example of this, generating over $2 trillion in economic output alone. Los Angeles generated $1.1 trillion.

While these are the obvious and expected hubs, some new cities and states are beginning to attract new business and are anticipating significant economic growth. North Carolina, for example, has been ranked as the best U.S. state to do business in, thanks to a number of factors like ease of access to capital and a strong culture of tech and innovation.

Over time, the centers of economic power may be slowly shifting in the U.S., but for now the top contributors to the nation’s GDP far outpace the rest.

Tyler Durden
Sun, 07/23/2023 – 15:00


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