The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in each US region over the past five years as of the fourth quarter of 2018 and the growth rate over the past ten years. The West's growth rates outshine the other regions' rates.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the largest annualized five-year growth rate, the West, and the region with the smallest, the Midwest, is 1.93 percentage points.
- The difference between the region with the largest annualized ten-year growth rate, the West, and the region with the smallest, the Midwest, is 1.06 percentage points.
- Two regions' economies grew faster over the past five years than they did over the past ten years. Two regions' economies saw their economies grow slower over the past five years than they did over the past ten years.
Caveats
- Data is from the fourth quarters of 2008, 2013, and 2018.
- 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.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Details
The Midwest had the smallest increase over the past five years with an annualized growth rate of 3.73%. The West had the largest growth with an annualized gain of 5.66%.
Over the past ten years, the Midwest had the smallest increase with an annualized growth rate of 3.94% while the West had the largest growth with an annualized growth rate of 5.00%.
The Midwest saw the largest decrease in its growth rate between its annualized ten-year growth and its annualized five-year growth slowing its rate by 0.21 percentage points. The West had the largest increase in its growth rate between its annualized ten-year growth and its annualized five-year growth ramping up its rate by 0.66 percentage points.
The South went from having a lower growth rate than the Northeast over the past ten years to a higher one over the past five years. The Northeast had the smallest range in annualized five-year growth rates with a low of 2.56% in Connecticut to a high of 4.94% in Massachusetts. Conversely, the West had the greatest range in annualized five-year growth rates with a low of -0.38% in Alaska to a high of 7.10% in Washington. Over the past ten years, the South had the smallest range in growth rates with a low of 2.03% in Mississippi to a high of 4.99 in Texas. The West on the other hand, had the greatest range of rates on a ten-year basis with a low of -0.33% in Wyoming to a high of 6.24% in Washington.
Sources
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2019. "GDP by State." Accessed May 22, 2019. https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.