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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EST, Thursday, December 7, 2023

BEA 23—60

Gross Domestic Product by County and Metropolitan Area, 2022

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 1,780 counties, decreased in 1,296 counties, and was unchanged in 38 counties in 2022, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The percent change in real GDP ranged from 71.1 percent in Chouteau County, MT, to –57.6 percent in Kiowa County, CO (table 1).

map: Real GDP: Percent Change for Counties, 2021-2022

GDP is the value of final goods and services produced within a county. The size of a county's economy as measured by GDP varies considerably across the United States. In 2022, the total level of real GDP ranged from $11.4 million in Arthur County, NE, to $790.0 billion in Los Angeles County, CA.

Highlights

In large counties (145 counties with populations greater than 500,000 in 2022):

Real GDP increased in 129 counties, decreased in 16 counties, and was unchanged in 1 county.
GDP ranged from $16.1 billion in Pasco County, FL, to $790.0 billion in Los Angeles County, CA.
Douglas County, NE, had the largest increase, at 9.2 percent. The finance and insurance industry was the leading contributor to the county's growth.
Oklahoma County, OK, had the largest decrease, at 5.3 percent. The mining industry was the leading contributor to the decline.

In medium counties (475 counties with populations between 100,000 and 500,000 in 2022):

Real GDP increased in 354 counties, decreased in 114 counties, and was unchanged in 7 counties.
GDP ranged from $2.2 billion in Liberty County, TX, to $42.9 billion in Mercer County, NJ.
Clayton County, GA, had the largest increase, at 16.0 percent. The transportation and warehousing industry was the leading contributor to the county's growth.
Minnehaha County, SD, had the largest decrease, at 9.3 percent. The finance and insurance industry was the leading contributor to the decline.

In small counties (2,494 counties with populations less than 100,000 in 2022):

Real GDP increased in 1,298 counties, decreased in 1,166 counties, and was unchanged in 30 counties.
GDP ranged from $11.4 million in Arthur County, NE, to $9.9 billion in Broomfield County, CO.
Chouteau County, MT, had the largest increase, at 71.1 percent. The agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry was the leading contributor to the county’s growth.
Kiowa County, CO, had the largest decrease, at 57.6 percent. The agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry was the leading contributor to the decline.

Metropolitan area and industry detail statistics are available on BEA’s website.

Annual update of county and metropolitan area statistics

The estimates for 2022 incorporate the results of BEA’s comprehensive update of GDP by county and metropolitan area that was also released today. The annual estimates of GDP by county and metropolitan area from 2017 to 2021 were revised. These updates incorporate new and revised source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available as well as the results of the comprehensive updates of BEA’s National Economic Accounts, Industry Economic Accounts, and annual GDP by state accounts that were published earlier. Our online journal, the Survey of Current Business, will include an article in 2024 describing the results of BEA’s comprehensive update of county and metropolitan area statistics.

GDP by county statistics for 2001 through 2016 will be released at a later time; BEA will send out an advisory with the date and time when this information becomes available.

Next release: December 4, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. EST
Gross Domestic Product by County and Metropolitan Area, 2023

Full Release & County Table (PDF)

Table Only (Excel)

Highlights (PDF)

Interactive Tables

Technical

Jacob Hinson

301-278-9686

GDPbyCounty@bea.gov

Technical

Frank Baumgardner

301-278-9229

GDPbyCounty@bea.gov

Media (BEA)

Connie O'Connell

301-278-9003

Connie.OConnell@bea.gov

Resources

Stay informed about BEA developments by reading The BEA Wire, signing up for BEA's email subscription service, or following @BEA_News on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Historical time series for these estimates can be accessed in BEA's Interactive Data Application.
Access BEA data by registering for BEA's Data Application Programming Interface.
For more on BEA statistics, see our online journal, the Survey of Current Business.
For upcoming economic indicators, see BEA's news release schedule.
BEA Regional Facts (BEARFACTS) is a narrative summary of personal income, per capita personal income, and components of income and gross domestic product for counties, metropolitan statistical areas, and states.

Definitions

Gross domestic product (GDP) by county is the value of goods and services produced by the county’s economy less the value of goods and services used up in production. GDP by county is the substate counterpart of the nation’s GDP, the Bureau’s featured and most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity.

Current-dollar statistics are valued in the prices of the period when the transactions occurred—that is, at “market value.” Also referred to as “nominal GDP” or “current-price GDP.”

Real values are inflation-adjusted statistics—that is, these exclude the effects of price changes.

Contributions to growth are an industry’s contribution to the state’s overall percent change in real GDP. The contributions are additive and can be summed to the state’s overall percent change.

Statistical conventions

Quantities and prices. Quantities, or “real” measures, are expressed as index numbers with a specified reference year equal to 100 (currently 2017). Quantity indexes are calculated using a Fisher chained-weighted formula that incorporates weights from two adjacent periods (quarters for quarterly data and annuals for annual data). “Real” dollar series are calculated by multiplying the published quantity index by the current dollar value in the reference year and then dividing by 100. Percent changes calculated from chained-dollar levels and quantity indexes are conceptually the same; any differences are due to rounding.

Chained-dollar values are not additive, because the relative weights for a given period differ from those of the reference year.

Chained-dollar values of GDP by county are derived by applying national chain-type price indexes to the current dollar values of GDP by county for 65 detailed North American Industry Classification System-based industries. The chain-type index formula that is used in the national accounts is then used to calculate the values of total real GDP by county and real GDP by county at more aggregated industry levels. Real GDP by county may reflect a substantial volume of output that is sold to other areas and countries. To the extent that a county’s output is produced and sold in national markets at relatively uniform prices (or sold locally at national prices), real GDP by county captures the differences across counties that reflect the relative differences in the mix of goods and services that the areas produce. However, real GDP by county does not capture geographic differences in the prices of goods and services that are produced and sold locally.

Relation of GDP by county to national GDP. The GDP by county statistics released today are consistent with the GDP by state statistics released on September 29, 2023, which were based on the September 2023 comprehensive update of the National Economic Accounts.