Largest Industry in Each State

Source: Thinkstock

31. New Mexico
> Largest industry: Oil and gas extraction
> Industry GDP contribution: $7.7 billion
> Industry output as pct. of GDP: 8.9%
> Industry workforce: 5,342

Driven largely by its petroleum resources, New Mexico is the seventh largest net producer of energy among all states. Oil and gas production contributed $7.7 billion to the state economy in 2015 — or 8.9% of the state’s total GDP. Though falling oil prices have hurt the industry in recent years, economic output tied to oil and gas extraction in New Mexico expanded by about 25% in 2015.

Source: Thinkstock

32. New York
> Largest industry: Federal Reserve banks and credit services
> Industry GDP contribution: $81.7 billion
> Industry output as pct. of GDP: 6.5%
> Industry workforce: 163,758

One of the 12 Federal Reserve banks located throughout the United States is in lower Manhattan. Lower Manhattan is also home to countless banking and financial institutions, and partially as a result, the Federal Reserve banks and credit intermediation sub-sector is the largest in New York state, generating $81.7 billion in economic output in 2015.

In most states, the largest industry grew in 2015, contributing to the state’s economic growth. In New York, however, the Fed and banks involved in credit intermediation were a drag on the economy, as the industry contracted by 3.4%. Still, as a whole, the state economy managed to expand by 1.2% the same year.

Source: Thinkstock

33. North Carolina
> Largest industry: Chemical products manufacturing
> Industry GDP contribution: $24.0 billion
> Industry output as pct. of GDP: 5.4%
> Industry workforce: 42,446

A number of major chemical and plastics companies, including giants such as BASF and the soon to be merged DuPont and Dow Chemical, operate in North Carolina. Since 2011, North Carolina’s chemical products manufacturing industry, the largest in the state, has declined by about 17%. Still, North Carolina produces nearly 8% of the total value of the nation’s chemical production in dollars.

Source: Thinkstock

34. North Dakota
> Largest industry: Oil and gas extraction
> Industry GDP contribution: $3.8 billion
> Industry output as pct. of GDP: 7.5%
> Industry workforce: 2,906

Producing an estimated 12.5% of all crude oil in the United States in 2015, North Dakota is the second largest crude oil-producing state. Exploitation of the state’s Bakken shale formation turned North Dakota into America’s boom state practically overnight. Oil and gas extraction generated $3.8 billion in economic output in North Dakota in 2015, more than a 200% increase over the industry’s contribution five years prior.

Source: Thinkstock

35. Ohio
> Largest industry: Hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities
> Industry GDP contribution: $22.2 billion
> Industry output as pct. of GDP: 4.1%
> Industry workforce: 1,246,122

Hospitals and residential care facilities employ over 1.2 million people in Ohio. The state’s largest industry is bolstered by the Cleveland Clinic, one of the largest hospitals in the country which boasts over 1,200 beds. Hospitals and nursing facilities in the state generated some $22.2 billion in economic output in 2015.

Ohio has a relatively diverse economy, and hospitals and nursing homes account for only 4.1% of the state’s GDP.