The COVID-19 pandemic sent economic shockwaves through the U.S. economy, tripling the monthly unemployment to nearly 15% and leading to a more than 30% quarterly decline in GDP — by far the largest economic contraction in U.S. history.
No corner of the country was untouched by the pandemic’s economic consequences — but some states have emerged better off than others. A range of factors, including industrial diversity, labor force education levels, household income, and long-term GDP growth, have an effect on a state’s overall economic strength — and its ability to withstand the impact of the pandemic.
To determine the states with the best and worst economies, both in the years leading up to the pandemic and during it, 24/7 Wall St. created an index of five measures â five-year economic growth, five-year employment growth, the poverty rate, unemployment rate, and share of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Florida’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism — one of the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. Partially as a result, the state’s economy contracted by 2.1% from the end of 2019 through the end of 2020. Despite the setback, Florida’s economy still expanded by an annual average of 2.2% over the last five years, well above the comparable 1.4% national annualized growth rate.
One of the fastest growing industries in the last half decade in the Sunshine State was construction — a sector that often benefits from population growth. In Florida, the population grew by a net of nearly 2.7 million people between 2010 and 2020 from new residents moving in alone, the most of any state in the country.
All index components used to create this ranking were included at equal weight. All data used to create the index came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau. Additional state level data on economic output by industry from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This is how all 50 state economies rank.
| Rank | State | Poverty rate | March 2021 unemployment rate | Avg. annual employment chg., March 2016 to March 2021 | Avg. annual GDP chg., Q4 2015 to Q4 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah | 8.9% | 2.9% | +2.0% | +3.9% |
| 2 | Idaho | 11.2% | 3.2% | +2.3% | +3.9% |
| 3 | Washington | 9.8% | 5.4% | +1.2% | +4.3% |
| 4 | Colorado | 9.3% | 6.4% | +1.4% | +2.8% |
| 5 | New Hampshire | 7.3% | 3.0% | +0.2% | +0.6% |
| 6 | Nebraska | 9.9% | 2.9% | +0.0% | +1.2% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 9.0% | 4.2% | -0.1% | +1.1% |
| 8 | Massachusetts | 9.4% | 6.8% | +0.2% | +1.4% |
| 9 | Georgia | 13.3% | 4.5% | +1.7% | +2.2% |
| 10 | Oregon | 11.4% | 6.0% | +0.9% | +2.8% |
| 11 | Virginia | 9.9% | 5.1% | -0.2% | +1.2% |
| 12 | Kansas | 11.4% | 3.7% | +0.2% | +1.1% |
| 13 | Montana | 12.6% | 3.8% | +0.5% | +1.2% |
| 14 | South Dakota | 11.9% | 2.9% | +0.6% | +0.8% |
| 15 | Florida | 12.7% | 4.7% | +0.9% | +2.2% |
| 16 | Maryland | 9.0% | 6.2% | -0.6% | +1.0% |
| 17 | Arizona | 13.5% | 6.7% | +1.9% | +2.9% |
| 18 | Wisconsin | 10.4% | 3.8% | -0.2% | +0.8% |
| 19 | Vermont | 10.2% | 2.9% | -1.9% | -0.1% |
| 20 | North Carolina | 13.6% | 5.2% | +0.8% | +1.7% |
| 21 | Indiana | 11.9% | 3.9% | +0.1% | +1.5% |
| 22 | South Carolina | 13.8% | 5.1% | +0.9% | +1.8% |
| 23 | Maine | 10.9% | 4.8% | -0.7% | +1.0% |
| 24 | Alabama | 15.5% | 3.8% | +1.3% | +1.1% |
| 25 | Tennessee | 13.9% | 5.0% | +1.2% | +1.0% |
| 26 | Missouri | 12.9% | 4.2% | -0.0% | +0.7% |
| 27 | New Jersey | 9.2% | 7.7% | -0.9% | +0.3% |
| 28 | Iowa | 11.2% | 3.7% | -0.9% | +0.3% |
| 29 | Ohio | 13.1% | 4.7% | +0.0% | +0.7% |
| 30 | North Dakota | 10.6% | 4.4% | -0.6% | -0.4% |
| 31 | Texas | 13.6% | 6.9% | +0.6% | +1.7% |
| 32 | California | 11.8% | 8.3% | -0.6% | +2.4% |
| 33 | Delaware | 11.3% | 6.5% | +0.4% | -0.6% |
| 34 | Nevada | 12.5% | 8.1% | +1.5% | +1.9% |
| 35 | Michigan | 13.0% | 5.1% | -0.6% | +0.4% |
| 36 | Wyoming | 10.1% | 5.3% | -0.4% | -1.6% |
| 37 | Rhode Island | 10.8% | 7.1% | -0.8% | -0.5% |
| 38 | Oklahoma | 15.2% | 4.2% | +0.4% | -0.6% |
| 39 | Pennsylvania | 12.0% | 7.3% | -0.8% | +0.6% |
| 40 | Illinois | 11.5% | 7.1% | -1.6% | +0.2% |
| 41 | New York | 13.0% | 8.5% | -0.8% | +0.8% |
| 42 | Arkansas | 16.2% | 4.4% | +0.1% | +0.6% |
| 43 | Alaska | 10.1% | 6.6% | -0.8% | -0.8% |
| 44 | Connecticut | 10.0% | 8.3% | -2.4% | +0.1% |
| 45 | Kentucky | 16.3% | 5.0% | -0.1% | +0.5% |
| 46 | Hawaii | 9.3% | 9.0% | -2.1% | -0.5% |
| 47 | West Virginia | 16.0% | 5.9% | +0.3% | -0.2% |
| 48 | New Mexico | 18.2% | 8.3% | -0.1% | +1.1% |
| 49 | Mississippi | 19.6% | 6.3% | +0.1% | +0.5% |
| 50 | Louisiana | 19.0% | 7.3% | -0.8% | +0.3% |
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