Real gross domestic product increased in 1,931 of the nation’s counties and decreased in 1,159 counties in 2015, according to prototype statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The inflation-adjusted data show GDP unchanged in 23 counties.
These prototype county GDP statistics, for the years 2012-2015, represent another step forward in meeting BEA’s long-standing goal of providing a more detailed geographic distribution of the nation’s economic activity. BEA is requesting feedback and comments on this prototype that will help us review and finalize the data sources and methodology of these statistics before their first official release, with more timely data, which is set for December 2019.
Some highlights of the 2015 statistics:
• Real GDP ranged from $4.6 million in Loving County, Texas, to $656.0 billion in Los Angeles County, Calif., in 2015.
• Among counties with populations greater than 500,000, the largest increase in real GDP was Denton County, Texas (12.2 percent) and the largest decrease was Marion County, Ind. (-4.2 percent.)
• Among medium-sized counties – those with populations between 100,000 and 500,000 – the biggest increase in real GDP was 26.9 percent in Whatcom County, Wash. The biggest decrease was in Waukesha County, Wis. (-16.1 percent).
• Among counties with populations less than 100,000, real GDP increased the most in Roberts County, Texas (72.3 percent). The largest decrease was in Slope County, N.D. (-37.8 percent).
See today’s GDP by county news release for more information. More details about these statistics, their data sources, and their methodology will be in the January 2019 issue of the Survey of Current Business.
The public is invited to submit comments and feedback by emailing gdpbycounty@bea.gov.