Useful Stats: Gross Domestic Product by Metro, Per Capita GDP by Metro 2002-2006

According to the most recent release of gross domestic product (GDP) by metro area, 23 of the nation's 363 metro areas experienced a decrease in inflation-adjusted GDP from 2002 to 2006. Benchmarking against the aggregate U.S. metro GDP growth rate over those five years - which increased 12.8 percent - 167 of the nation's metros grew at a faster rate.

On a per-capita GDP basis however, the wealth was more concentrated as only 61 (about one-sixth) of metros had an average per-capita GDP higher than the U.S. metro average of $41,510. Topping the list of metros in per-capita GDP were the regions concentrated around Bridgeport, CT ($78,944 per person); San Jose, CA ($76,290); Charlotte, NC ($63,668); San Francisco/Oakland, CA ($61,895); and the District of Columbia ($60,757).

From 2002 to 2006, the per-capita GDP across all U.S. metros increased by 8.2 percent. Of the 363 metros, 157 bested this increase. Only 40 of the metros witnessed a per-capita GDP decrease over this period.

So where does your metro stand?

SSTI has prepared a table listing not only the 2006 GDP for every U.S. metro area in current dollars, but the 2006 per-capita GDP values, as well as the percent change and relative ranking of these values from 2002 to 2006. The data originates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

The GDPs cover a wide range on this chart, from $1.12 trillion for the New York City metro region to $1.42 billion in Palm Coast, Florida - about a factor of one thousand. Because of this, it may help to break up this list into three size categories: metros with less than $10 billion GDP, metros with more than $100 billion in GDP, and all other metros in between.

For the 202 metro areas with a GDP less than $10 billion in 2006, the metro around Corvalis, OR saw a per-capita GDP increase of 38.7 percent to $48,709. Longview, TX and Punta Gorda, FL were also at the top in this category. For the 135 metros between $10-100 billion in GDP, Lake Charles, LA led the pack with a 31.9 percent increase to $48,722. The metros around New Orleans, LA and Peoria, IL were also in the top of this group.

Finally, for the 26 metros with a GDP larger than $100 billion, San Jose's per-capita GDP grew by 18.7 percent over the five-year time period. The only other metros in this group with a per-capita GDP growing more than 15 percent were Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Miami.

SSTI's table is available at: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/021109t.htm

The BEA data back to 2001 can be found at: http://www.bea.gov/regional/gdpmetro/