The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in each US state over the past five years as of the first quarter of 2021 and the growth rate over the past ten years. All states experienced growth both over the past five years and the past ten years.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the largest annualized five-year growth rate, Utah, and the state with the smallest, Wyoming, is 5.54 percentage points.
- The difference between the state with the largest annualized ten-year growth rate, Washington, and the state with the smallest, Alaska, is 7.29 percentage points.
- The median annualized five-year growth rate in the 50 US states is 3.39% and the mean 3.71%.
- The median annualized ten-year growth rate in the 50 US states is 3.90% and the mean 3.96%.
- Of the 50 states, 18 grew faster over the past five years than they did over the past ten years, 1 had the same annualized growth rate over both periods, and 31 grew slower over the past five years than they did over the past ten years.
Caveats
- Data is from the first quarters of 2011, 2016, and 2021.
- The data is seasonally adjusted in current dollars.
- Growth rates may differ from those provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as the BEA's growth rates are based on chained dollars in conjunction with the chain index or the quality index for real GDP.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
Wyoming had the worst performance over the past five years with an annualized growth rate of 1.73%. Utah had the best performance with an annualized gain of 7.27%.
Over the past ten years, Alaska had the worst performance with an annualized growth rate of 0.13% while Washington had the best performance with an annualized growth rate of 7.42%.
North Dakota had the worst change in its growth rate between its annualized ten-year growth and its annualized five-year growth slowing its rate by 2.19 percentage points. Alaska had the best change in its growth rate between its annualized ten-year growth and its annualized five-year growth raising its rate by 2.15 percentage points.
New Mexico went from having the 44th largest annualized growth rate over the past ten years to the 20th largest annualized growth rate over the past five years. Conversely, North Dakota went from having the 10th highest annualized growth rate over the past ten years to the 32nd highest annualized growth rate over the past five years. Four states had annualized growth rates in the top five both over the past ten years and over the past five years: Utah (2nd highest annualized growth over ten years, 1st highest annualized growth over five years), Washington (1st highest annualized growth over ten years, 2nd highest annualized growth over five years), Idaho (3rd highest annualized growth over ten years, 3rd highest annualized growth over five years), and Colorado (5th highest annualized growth over ten years, 4th highest annualized growth over five years). One state has ranked in the bottom five over both periods: Wyoming (49th ten-year, 50th five-year).
Sources
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2021. "GDP by State." Accessed August 25, 2021. https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.