Useful Stats: GDP by State, Per Capita 2003-2007

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently published its estimate on the real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of each state for 2007, revising previously released figures for 2003-2006.
 
SSTI has prepared a table showing real GDP per capita for every state and the District of Columbia from 2003 to 2007. The table includes:

• Ranking for 2007 state GDP per capita;
• Comparison of 2007 GDP per capita to the national average;
• Five-year percent change in state GDP per capita; and,
• Ranking of five-year percent change.

The real GDP per capita for the U.S. as a whole was $38,020 in 2007. The District of Columbia is a perennial outlier for the table, given its GDP per capita is more than three times the national average. Delaware led all states with a 2007 value of $56,496 – 49 percent higher than the U.S. average. Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey rounded out the top five states, the same top states in the 2005 and 2006 data. Overall, 18 of the 51 states experienced a real GDP per capita higher than the U.S. average in 2007. By contrast, only 17 states topped the national average in 2003.
 
Over the period from 2003 to 2007, Louisiana witnessed the largest real GDP growth per capita from $29,475 to $35,191, improving its ranking from 40th to 27th place as the value rose 19.4 percent. New York, ranked second in real GDP growth per capita, experienced a 16.5 percent increase over the five years. Oregon, Hawaii and Connecticut complete the list of top five states. Thirteen states posted double-digit gains from 2003 to 2007, and the only two states to experience a decline in real GDP per capita over this period were Michigan and Indiana. The change for the U.S. as a whole was 8 percent; 23 states exceeded that increase.
 
SSTI’s table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/061108t.htm
 
The BEA update, which includes links to all data and explains how the GDP by state is calculated, is available at: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/gdp_state/gsp_newsrelease.htm