Real gross domestic product (GDP) figures for 2022 have been released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), showing increases in 1,780 counties, decreases in 1,296 counties, and no change in 38 counties. The changes ranged from a 71.1 percent increase in Chouteau County, Montana to a 57.6 percent decrease in Kiowa County, Colorado.
GDP represents the value of final goods and services produced within a county. The size of county economies varied significantly across the United States in 2022, with GDP levels ranging from $11.4 million in Arthur County, Nebraska to $790 billion in Los Angeles County, California.
In large counties with populations over 500,000:
- Real GDP rose in 129 counties and fell in 16.
- Douglas County, Nebraska experienced the largest increase at 9.2 percent due primarily to growth in the finance and insurance industry.
- Oklahoma County, Oklahoma saw the largest decline at 5.3 percent with mining as the leading contributor to this downturn.
Medium-sized counties with populations between 100,000 and 500,000 reported:
- An increase in real GDP for 354 counties while it decreased for 114.
- Clayton County, Georgia had a significant rise of 16 percent driven by transportation and warehousing industries.
- Minnehaha County, South Dakota faced a decrease of 9.3 percent influenced mainly by the finance and insurance sector.
For small counties with populations under 100,000:
- Real GDP increased for 1,298 counties but decreased for another set of 1,166.
- Chouteau County recorded a notable growth rate at 71.1 percent attributed to agriculture-related activities.
- Conversely, Kiowa County's economy contracted by over half due to challenges within its agriculture sector.
Detailed statistics on metropolitan areas and industries are accessible on BEA’s website.
The BEA's annual update includes revised estimates from previous years incorporating new data sources that offer greater detail than before. These revisions span GDP estimates by county and metropolitan area from as far back as 2017 through to last year.
Furthermore, historical GDP data covering years from 2001 through to early months of recent updates will be published later; an advisory will announce their release date.