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EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EST, Thursday, December 8, 2022

BEA 22–61

Gross Domestic Product by County, 2021

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased in 2,404 counties, decreased in 691 counties, and was unchanged in 17 counties in 2021, according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The percent change in real GDP ranged from 81.8 percent in Coke County, TX, to –34.8 percent in Chouteau County, MT (table 1).

map: Real GDP: Percent Change for Counties, 200-2021

GDP is the value of 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 2021, the total level of real GDP ranged from $11.7 million in Petroleum County, MT, to $711.9 billion in Los Angeles County, CA.

Highlights

Large counties (144 counties with populations greater than 500,000 in 2021)

Real GDP increased in 143 counties and decreased in 1 county.
GDP ranged from $13.8 billion in Pasco County, FL, to $711.9 billion in Los Angeles County, CA.
San Francisco County, CA, had the largest increase, at 14.0 percent. The finance and insurance industry was the leading contributor to the county's growth.
Kern County, CA, had the only decrease, at 1.1 percent. The mining industry was the leading contributor to the decrease.

Medium counties (473 counties with populations between 100,000 and 500,000 in 2021)

Real GDP increased in 456 counties, decreased in 15 counties, and was unchanged in 2 counties.
GDP ranged from $2.3 billion in Bastrop County, TX, to $42.3 billion in Polk County, IA.
Elkhart County, IN, had the largest increase, at 25.3 percent. The durable-goods manufacturing industry was the leading contributor to the county's growth.
Weld County, CO, had the largest decrease, at 6.7 percent. The mining industry was the leading contributor to the decrease.

Small counties (2,495 counties with populations less than 100,000 in 2021)

Real GDP increased in 1,805 counties, decreased in 675 counties, and was unchanged in 15.
GDP ranged from $11.7 million in Petroleum County, MT, to $14.4 billion in Martin County, TX.
Coke County, TX, had the largest increase, at 81.8 percent. The utilities industry was the leading contributor to the county's growth.
Chouteau County, MT, had the largest decrease, at 34.8 percent. The agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry was the leading contributor to the decrease.

Annual update to county and metropolitan area GDP

The estimates for 2021 incorporate the results of BEA's annual update of GDP by county and metropolitan area that was also released today. The annual estimates of county and metropolitan area GDP for 2017 to 2020 were revised. The update incorporates revised source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available, the results of the September 2022 annual update of the National Income and Product Accounts, the September 2022 annual update of GDP by industry, the September 2022 annual update of GDP by state, and the November 2022 annual update of personal income by county.

Next release: December 7, 2023, at 8:30 a.m., EST
Gross Domestic Product by County, 2022

Full Release & County Tables (PDF)

Tables Only (Excel)

Highlights (PDF)

Interactive Tables

Technical contact

Jacob Hinson

301-278-9686

GdpbyCounty@bea.gov

Technical contact

Frank Baumgardner

301-278-9229

GdpbyCounty@bea.gov

Media (BEA)

Connie O'Connell

301-278-9003

Connie.OConnell@bea.gov

Resources

The full economic effects of the COVID–19 pandemic cannot be quantified in these statistics, because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified. For more Information about COVID–19 impacts, refer to Federal Recovery Programs and BEA Statistics on our website.
Stay informed about BEA developments by reading The BEA Wire, signing up for BEA's email subscription service, or following BEA on Twitter @BEA_News.
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's 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 2012). 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 30, 2022, which were based on the September 2022 annual update of the National Income and Product Accounts and the September 2022 annual update of the Industry Economic Accounts.