The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each US state as of the fourth quarter of 2018 in dollars, the change from the previous quarter, and the GDP one year prior. Every single state's per capita GDP grew both over the past quarter and the past year.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the largest per capita GDP, Massachusetts, and the state with the smallest, Mississippi, is $48,906.59 (up from $48,631.32 last quarter and up from $46,504.57 last year). New York and Mississippi had the largest and smallest per capita GDP respectively both last quarter and last year.
- Massachusetts has 2.25 times the per capita GDP that Mississippi does. The ratio of largest per capita GDP to smallest per capita GDP was down from 2.26 last quarter and up from 2.24 last year.
- The median per capita GDP in the 50 US states is $61,767 (up from $61,195 last quarter and up from $58,881 last year) and the mean $63,032 (up from $62,450 the previous quarter and up from $60,005 last year).
- All 50 states saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from the previous quarter.
- All 50 states saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from last year.
Caveats
- GDP data is from the fourth quarter of 2018.
- Census data is from 2010.
- 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
In absolute terms, West Virginia saw the smallest increase over the previous quarter with a growth of $24.29. Washington had the largest growth with a gain of $1,066.87. Year over year, Rhode Island had the smallest increase with a gain of $1,306.52 while Washington had the greatest increase with a gain of $6,199.99.
In relative terms, West Virginia had the smallest increase over the previous quarter with a 0.06% rise in per capita GDP while Texas had the greatest increase with a 1.41% rise in per capita GDP. Year over year, Rhode Island had the smallest growth with a 2.29% rise in per capita GDP while Washington had the largest growth with a 7.79% rise in per capita GDP.
The number of states with a per capita GDP of over $80,000 increased from three last year to six this past quarter. Conversely, the number of states with a per capita GDP of less than $50,000 went from ten last year to seven this past quarter.
Five states surpassed one state each from the previous quarter: Massachusetts surpassed New York and went from being the state with the second highest per capita GDP to the state with the highest, Washington surpassed Delaware to go from fourth to third, Texas overtook New Jersey to go from 12th to 11th, Michigan overtook Oklahoma to go from 39th to 38th, and Idaho passed Montana to go from 43rd highest per capita GDP to 42nd. Year over year, three states rose up two spots each: Texas (13th to 11th), Ohio (31st to 29th), and New Mexico (46th to 44th). Nine states surpassed one state each: Massachusetts (2nd to 1st), Washington (4th to 3rd), Illinois (17th to 16th), Utah (20th to 19th), Nevada (25th to 24th), Tennessee (32nd to 31st), Arizona (37th to 36th), Oklahoma (40th to 39th), and Idaho (43rd to 42nd). Rhode Island had the notable distinction of being surpassed by three states from the previous year going from 29th highest per capita GDP to 32nd highest. Twelve states were each surpassed by one state: New York (1st to 2nd), Delaware (3rd to 4th), New Jersey (11th to 12th), Wyoming (12th to 13th), Nebraska (16th to 17th), New Hampshire (19th to 20th), Georgia (24th to 25th), Vermont (36th to 37th), Missouri (39th to 40th), Montana (42nd to 43rd), Maine (44th to 45th), and Kentucky (45th to 46th).
Data
| State | Fourth Quarter 2017 | Third Quarter 2018 | Fourth Quarter 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 44,729.47 | 46,125.61 | 46,630.05 |
| Alaska | 74,195.44 | 76,918.92 | 77,230.37 |
| Arizona | 51,991.26 | 54,838.62 | 55,586.66 |
| Arkansas | 42,906.97 | 44,063.14 | 44,518.40 |
| California | 77,307.79 | 80,181.82 | 81,020.58 |
| Colorado | 70,728.38 | 74,070.91 | 74,961.05 |
| Connecticut | 74,903.14 | 77,483.71 | 78,244.29 |
| Delaware | 80,972.54 | 84,732.40 | 85,236.89 |
| Florida | 53,099.24 | 55,699.85 | 56,333.52 |
| Georgia | 59,097.59 | 61,411.69 | 62,089.66 |
| Hawaii | 66,172.71 | 67,971.87 | 68,675.54 |
| Idaho | 47,414.81 | 49,478.82 | 50,166.50 |
| Illinois | 65,185.02 | 67,939.45 | 68,581.76 |
| Indiana | 55,068.83 | 56,804.71 | 57,316.54 |
| Iowa | 58,831.44 | 60,978.95 | 61,443.88 |
| Kansas | 56,926.88 | 58,919.96 | 59,429.02 |
| Kentucky | 47,076.22 | 48,256.16 | 48,767.74 |
| Louisiana | 53,450.87 | 55,950.01 | 56,358.05 |
| Maine | 47,078.84 | 48,780.64 | 49,195.44 |
| Maryland | 70,062.03 | 71,704.49 | 72,360.24 |
| Massachusetts | 83,854.95 | 87,058.08 | 87,914.95 |
| Michigan | 51,932.74 | 53,797.92 | 54,340.98 |
| Minnesota | 67,217.75 | 70,083.93 | 70,687.22 |
| Mississippi | 37,429.15 | 38,688.51 | 39,008.36 |
| Missouri | 51,411.83 | 53,417.70 | 53,980.74 |
| Montana | 48,193.43 | 49,800.74 | 50,165.60 |
| Nebraska | 65,698.63 | 67,394.42 | 68,301.54 |
| Nevada | 58,930.97 | 61,752.36 | 62,488.10 |
| New Hampshire | 62,204.99 | 64,718.91 | 65,361.38 |
| New Jersey | 68,923.73 | 71,424.33 | 72,193.90 |
| New Mexico | 46,527.86 | 48,951.89 | 49,268.08 |
| New York | 83,933.72 | 87,319.83 | 87,800.08 |
| North Carolina | 57,343.06 | 59,715.58 | 60,364.58 |
| North Dakota | 77,684.80 | 82,460.37 | 82,750.14 |
| Ohio | 56,844.97 | 59,241.79 | 59,735.55 |
| Oklahoma | 50,992.54 | 53,821.28 | 54,180.53 |
| Oregon | 60,357.10 | 62,836.35 | 63,450.90 |
| Pennsylvania | 60,184.21 | 62,596.58 | 63,240.70 |
| Rhode Island | 56,970.91 | 57,770.57 | 58,277.43 |
| South Carolina | 48,486.87 | 50,137.83 | 50,669.89 |
| South Dakota | 60,964.53 | 63,766.86 | 64,535.85 |
| Tennessee | 55,684.34 | 58,272.50 | 58,880.73 |
| Texas | 67,427.47 | 71,318.42 | 72,322.32 |
| Utah | 61,349.95 | 64,818.29 | 65,437.49 |
| Vermont | 52,644.94 | 54,006.05 | 54,582.01 |
| Virginia | 64,714.17 | 67,384.04 | 68,034.79 |
| Washington | 79,549.14 | 84,682.27 | 85,749.14 |
| West Virginia | 40,095.33 | 42,700.03 | 42,724.32 |
| Wisconsin | 57,317.99 | 59,553.55 | 60,219.95 |
| Wyoming | 68,184.22 | 70,719.95 | 70,789.50 |
Sources
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2019. "GDP by State." Accessed May 22, 2019. https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.
United States Census Bureau. September 2012. "United States Summary: 2010: Population and Housing Unit Counts." Accessed January 23, 2018. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf.