Is your state a drag on the American economy or a boon? The 50 states — as diverse as they are — each contribute something to the U.S. economy. Because of their diversity, state economies rarely trend in unison. GDP growth is often the default measure for economic strength, but it often fails to tell the whole story. Unemployment, poverty, job growth, and education among other factors can also play a part in defining the strength of an economy.
Economic vitality is as much about growth as it is about the state’s ability to support its population — with jobs, education, economic opportunities and more. In turn, employed, better-paid, and better-educated residents of a state further contribute to economic growth.
> 2016 GDP: $2.30 trillion (the largest)
> 5 yr. GDP annual growth rate: 3.2% (3rd largest growth)
> Unemployment: 4.7% (13th highest)
> 5 yr. annual employment growth: 2.8% (5th fastest growth)
Consumers, businesses, and the government in California spent trillions of dollars in 2016, helping to make the state’s economy larger than most countries and the largest of all states in the U.S. California’s economy grew at a 3.2% annual rate over the five years through 2016, the third fastest growth rate of any state economy. While jobs were also added over that time at an annual rate of 2.8%, the fifth fastest growth of any state, 4.7% of California’s labor force was unemployed as of May, one of the higher jobless rates in the country.
24/7 Wall St. reviewed economic growth, poverty, unemployment, job growth, and college attainment rates nationwide to compare and rank each state’s economy. As a result, the best ranked states tend to have fast-growing economies, low poverty and unemployment, high job growth, and a relatively well-educated workforce, while the opposite is generally the case among states with the worst ranked economies.