Out of all 50 states, New York had the highest per-capita real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023, at 90,730 U.S. dollars, followed closely by Massachusetts. Mississippi had the lowest per-capita real GDP, at 39,102 U.S. dollars. While not a state, the District of Columbia had a per capita GDP of more than 214,000 U.S. dollars. What is real GDP? A country’s real GDP is a measure that shows the value of the goods and services produced by an economy and is adjusted for inflation. The real GDP of a country helps economists to see the health of a country’s economy and its standard of living. Downturns in GDP growth can indicate financial difficulties, such as the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, when the U.S. GDP decreased by 2.5 percent. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on U.S. GDP, shrinking the economy 2.8 percent. The U.S. economy rebounded in 2021, however, growing by nearly six percent. Why real GDP per capita matters Real GDP per capita takes the GDP of a country, state, or metropolitan area and divides it by the number of people in that area. Some argue that per-capita GDP is more important than the GDP of a country, as it is a good indicator of whether or not the country’s population is getting wealthier, thus increasing the standard of living in that area. The best measure of standard of living when comparing across countries is thought to be GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP) which uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of a countries currency.

This layer illustrates the contribution of the ocean economy to each coastal county’s GDP (dollars) in 2013. Data for 33 coastal counties from Maine to New York show similar patterns as ocean economy employment. Results are based on research from the Center for the Blue Economy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2013 Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW) database. ENOW provides time-series data on the coastal and ocean economy from 2005 to 2013 derived from national accounts of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. ENOW’s four economic indicators are the number of business establishments, number of people employed, wages paid to employees, and contribution to gross domestic product. For more information, users are encouraged to consult the Northeast Ocean Planning Baseline Assessment report.View Dataset on the Gateway