The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each US state as of the first quarter of 2020 in dollars, the change from the previous quarter, and the GDP one year prior. Nebraska and South Dakota were the only states to experience a gain in per capita GDP over the past quarter.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the largest per capita GDP, Massachusetts, and the state with the smallest, Mississippi, is $51,497.88 (down from $51,693.31 last quarter and up from $50,144.85 last year). Massachusetts and Mississippi had the largest and smallest per capita GDP respectively both last quarter and last year.
- Massachusetts has 2.28 times the per capita GDP that Mississippi does. The ratio of largest per capita GDP to smallest per capita GDP was up from 2.27 last quarter and up from 2.27 last year.
- The median per capita GDP in the 50 US states is $63,437.49 (down from $63,724.57 last quarter and up from $61,971.46 last year) and the mean $64,738.96 (down from $65,385.74 the previous quarter and up from $63,584.66 last year).
- Two states saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from the previous quarter while 48 saw it drop.
- Forty-five states saw their per capita GDP rise in current dollars from last year while five saw it drop.
Caveats
- GDP data is from the first quarter of 2019, the fourth quarter of 2019, and the first quarter of 2020.
- 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 had the worst performance over the previous quarter with a drop of $2,523.55. South Dakota had the best performance with a gain of $39.43. Year over year, Wyoming had the worst performance with a drop of $1,614.55 while Washington had the best performance with a gain of $2,849.47.
In relative terms, Wyoming had the worst performance over the previous quarter with a 3.29% drop in per capita GDP while South Dakota had the best performance with a 0.06% rise in per capita GDP. Year over year, Wyoming had the worst performance with a 2.31% drop in per capita GDP while Utah had the best performance with a 3.60% rise in per capita GDP.
The number of states with a per capita GDP of over $80,000 was six last year, seven the previous quarter, and seven this past quarter. Conversely, the number of states with a per capita GDP of less than $50,000 was six last year, four the previous quarter, and five this past quarter.
South Dakota (went from 23rd highest per capita GDP to 21st highest) surpassed two states over the previous quarter. On the flip side, Wyoming (from 17th to 19th), Nevada (from 21st to 23rd), and Louisiana (from 34th to 36th) were each bested by two states over the quarter. Year over year, Nebraska (17th to 15th), South Dakota (from 23rd to 21st), and Florida (from 35th to 33rd) each rose two spots. Conversely, Wyoming (15th to 19th) was bested by four states from the previous year.
Data
| State | First Quarter 2019 | Fourth Quarter 2019 | First Quarter 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 47,269.64 | 48,581.28 | 48,173.31 |
| Alaska | 77,357.09 | 78,507.84 | 75,984.29 |
| Arizona | 56,227.12 | 58,279.23 | 57,987.89 |
| Arkansas | 44,938.85 | 46,374.76 | 45,942.86 |
| California | 82,881.65 | 85,447.34 | 84,940.79 |
| Colorado | 76,292.57 | 78,813.17 | 78,039.79 |
| Connecticut | 78,805.72 | 80,855.3 | 80,498.79 |
| Delaware | 82,712.32 | 85,095.56 | 84,734.07 |
| Florida | 57,123.24 | 59,111.75 | 58,733.73 |
| Georgia | 62,665.44 | 64,549.09 | 64,151.53 |
| Hawaii | 70,642.09 | 72,437.13 | 71,373.17 |
| Idaho | 50,676.84 | 52,478.79 | 52,186.55 |
| Illinois | 68,931.12 | 70,839.28 | 70,259.99 |
| Indiana | 57,383.09 | 58,874.93 | 58,319.33 |
| Iowa | 61,277.48 | 62,900.04 | 62,723.46 |
| Kansas | 59,697.78 | 61,582.94 | 61,379.76 |
| Kentucky | 48,809.15 | 50,137.22 | 49,601.13 |
| Louisiana | 57,446.89 | 58,907.92 | 57,830.71 |
| Maine | 50,129.29 | 51,523.12 | 51,035.22 |
| Maryland | 73,134.75 | 75,224.35 | 74,799.1 |
| Massachusetts | 89,551.12 | 92,278.87 | 91,720.85 |
| Michigan | 54,071.85 | 55,502.58 | 54,799.83 |
| Minnesota | 70,708.41 | 72,758.7 | 72,341.48 |
| Mississippi | 39,406.27 | 40,585.56 | 40,222.97 |
| Missouri | 54,549.64 | 56,239.82 | 55,879.73 |
| Montana | 51,875.1 | 53,514.15 | 52,801.81 |
| Nebraska | 68,325.63 | 70,686.42 | 70,721.29 |
| Nevada | 64,641.88 | 66,803.48 | 65,584.47 |
| New Hampshire | 66,271.01 | 68,240.45 | 67,702.49 |
| New Jersey | 72,347.05 | 74,206.05 | 73,610.6 |
| New Mexico | 49,815.53 | 51,119.16 | 50,245.22 |
| New York | 88,115.93 | 90,394.52 | 89,254.09 |
| North Carolina | 60,689.14 | 62,543.54 | 62,138.42 |
| North Dakota | 84,165.71 | 85,341.76 | 83,618.72 |
| Ohio | 59,770.48 | 61,263.27 | 60,597.9 |
| Oklahoma | 54,502.58 | 55,281.6 | 53,882.96 |
| Oregon | 64,619.4 | 66,670.03 | 66,297.21 |
| Pennsylvania | 63,130.64 | 64,917.19 | 64,167.59 |
| Rhode Island | 59,452.94 | 61,222.52 | 60,675.76 |
| South Carolina | 52,424.78 | 54,040.81 | 53,680.23 |
| South Dakota | 64,395.96 | 66,394.04 | 66,433.47 |
| Tennessee | 58,973.26 | 60,783.88 | 60,178.33 |
| Texas | 73,656.87 | 76,278.47 | 75,216.47 |
| Utah | 66,850.39 | 69,472.28 | 69,257.19 |
| Vermont | 54,789.76 | 56,366.77 | 55,816.7 |
| Virginia | 68,242.12 | 70,221.72 | 69,991.75 |
| Washington | 87,404.91 | 90,785.14 | 90,254.38 |
| West Virginia | 41,945.74 | 42,367.54 | 41,463.17 |
| Wisconsin | 60,245.13 | 61,882.02 | 61,420.02 |
| Wyoming | 69,891.74 | 70,603.38 | 68,277.19 |
Sources
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2020. "GDP by State." Accessed July 14, 2020. 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.