The States With the Best and Worst Economies

Wyoming is one of only four states with an economy that contracted over the five years since the first quarter in 2015. Over that period, Wyoming’s GDP contracted by 2.8%, for an annualized rate of -0.6%. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy expanded by 9.8% for an annualized rate of 1.9%.

GDP growth can be driven in part by population growth, and between 2010 and 2019, about 10,000 more people left Wyoming than moved in. Several industries have also contracted substantially in the state in recent years. Wholesale trade contracted at an annualized rate of 3.7% from 2015 to 2020. Over the same period, the economic output of the state’s construction industry fell by 3.6% per year on average, and finance and insurance reported a 3.0% annualized decline.

Largely due to COVID-19, there were about 250,000 fewer people working in Indiana in June than there were the same month in 2019. The rapid employment decline drove the state’s jobless rate up to 11.2% from just 3.3% the previous year. Nationwide, the comparable June unemployment rate was 11.1%.

Economic growth in Indiana has also been relatively sluggish. The state’s GDP grew at an annual rate of just 1.1% over the five years ending in the first quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.9%. Over the same period, several industries, including arts and entertainment, as well as mining, quarrying, and oil extraction, contracted, presenting a drag on Indiana’s economic growth.

California has consistently had one of the highest unemployment rates in the country in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse, as the equivalent of 38.3% of the state’s labor force has filed for unemployment since March 15. The state now has the fifth highest unemployment rate at 14.9%.

Yet California, with its nation’s largest labor force of 19.4 million people, has by the highest GDP of any state, at nearly $2.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2020. It has also been one of the fastest growing, expanding at an annualized rate of 3.0% from 2015 to 2020, the fourth highest GDP growth rate of any state.

Though Oklahoma’s June unemployment rate of 6.6% is lower than it is in most of the country, the state lags behind most other states in several other key economic measures.

Since 2015, Oklahoma’s GDP increased by only 1.8%, for an annualized rate of just 0.4%. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy expanded by 9.8% for an annualized rate of 1.9%. Additionally, the state’s relatively strong job market does not appear to be doing enough to ensure financial security for many in the state. Per capita annual income in Oklahoma is just $46,267, well below the $54,526 national average. Similarly, 15.6% of state residents live on poverty level incomes, compared to 13.1% of Americans nationwide.

Due largely to COVID-19, Ohio’s June unemployment rate of 10.9% is more than double what it was a year prior, at 4.1%. Over that period, the state shed nearly 400,000 jobs — the first time in at least half a decade that employment fell year-over-year in the month of June in the state. The decline more than erased all the job gains in the state since June 2015.

Economic growth has also been sluggish in Ohio. Since 2015, Ohio’s GDP increased by only 5.6% for an annualized rate of just 1.1%. Over the same period, the U.S. economy expanded by 9.8% for an annualized rate of 1.9%. The industries that have shrunk the most over the last five years in the state include accommodation and food services and finance and insurance.