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.

visualizing americas 20 trillion economy by state

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:

RankStateReal GDP (chained 2012 dollars)
1California$2.9 trillion
2Texas$1.9 trillion
3New York$1.6 trillion
4Florida$1.1 trillion
5Illinois$798 billion
6Pennsylvania$726 billion
7Ohio$639 billion
8Georgia$591 billion
9Washington$582 billion
T9New Jersey$582 billion
11North Carolina$560 billion
12Massachusetts$544 billion
13Virginia$513 billion
14Michigan$490 billion
15Colorado$386 billion
16Maryland$369 billion
17Tennessee$368 billion
18Arizona$356 billion
19Indiana$353 billion
20Minnesota$350 billion
21Wisconsin$312 billion
22Missouri$301 billion
23Connecticut$253 billion
24Oregon$235 billion
25South Carolina$226 billion
26Louisiana$217 billion
27Alabama$213 billion
28Kentucky$201 billion
29Utah$192 billion
30Oklahoma$191 billion
31Iowa$177 billion
32Nevada$165 billion
T32Kansas$165 billion
34District of Columbia$129 billion
35Arkansas$127 billion
36Nebraska$124 billion
37Mississippi$105 billion
38New Mexico$95 billion
39Idaho$84 billion
40New Hampshire$83 billion
41Hawaii$75 billion
42West Virginia$72 billion
43Delaware$66 billion
44Maine$65 billion
45Rhode Island$55 billion
46North Dakota$53 billion
47South Dakota$50 billion
T47Montana$50 billion
T47Alaska$50 billion
50Wyoming$36 billion
51Vermont$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:

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

Authored by Tyler Durden via ZeroHedge July 23rd 2023