Useful Stats: 5-year state industry profiles, 2018-2022

The United States has one of the most diversified economies of any nation, yet also the most dynamic; over the past five years, from 2018 through 2022, the U.S.’ agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry has grown 53%, while other industries such as manufacturing and construction have grown at a slower pace—17% and 23% respectively—compared to a 25% increase in overall gross domestic product.

Economies differ greatly from state to state, in terms of size and composition. This edition of Useful Stats uses U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data[1] to explore a breakdown of changes in industry gross domestic product (GDP) for each state and Washington, D.C. over the 5 years from 2018 to 2022, which provides a snapshot of state’s economies prior to and after the pandemic.

State industry GDP profiles

Over the five years from 2018 through 2022, the U.S.’ largest industry by GDP has remained finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing, with a 2022 value of $5.3 trillion, followed by professional and business services ($3.3 trillion), manufacturing ($2.6 trillion), and educational services, health care, and social assistance ($2.1 trillion). These four industries have consistently held their respective spots at the top.

However, not all states mirror this pattern. Rather, many follow a different allocation across the various industries.

For example, in 2022, Alaska, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming’s largest industry GDPs were all in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, while others like Washington, D.C. and Virginia have a concentration in professional and business services.

Other states, such as Delaware and New York, have extreme concentrations in a single industry, with 39% and 41% of their respective GDPs in 2022 attributable to the finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing industry.

See Figure 1, at the bottom of the article, for more trends across the U.S., 50 states, and Washington D.C. from 2018-2022.

5-year change in state industry GDP

This section will focus on the manufacturing industry to conserve space. However, data for all available industries will be accessible in each visualization.

The manufacturing industry has grown 17% nationwide over the five years from 2018 through 2022, despite the setbacks and shutdowns of the pandemic.

The 5-year manufacturing growths of twenty-five states and Washington, D.C. surpassed that of the national level (17%), with the greatest increases in Wyoming (68%), North Dakota (46%), and Utah (40%). Additional states with historically large economies, such as Florida (35%), California (22%), Pennsylvania and New York (each 18%), also grew by a larger percentage than the U.S. as a whole and were likely the primary drivers in terms of overall GDP contribution.

In 2022, Washington was the only state below 2018 values (-1%), with a slower recovery following a 20% drop from 2019-2020. Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Hawaii performed similarly but have since surpassed their 2018 values. Note that the majority of states’ (33) manufacturing industries declined between 2019 and 2020—the onset of the pandemic—with nine in the double digits. Despite the pandemic-induced manufacturing declines across most states, nearly all were able to surpass pre-pandemic values in a relatively short timeframe.

Figure 2, below, shows each state’s 5-year percent change in industry GDP from 2018 through 2022.

Figure 2: Percentage change in industry GDPs for each state, 2018-2022.