The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released its statistics on gross domestic product by metropolitan area for 2014. HowMuch.net [5] built a map to provide a 3D visualization of the GDP growth by metropolitan area, seen below. The higher the cone rising out of the map, the greater the GDP growth in that area.
(click image for huge legible version)
[6]
Take a look to the top 5 metro areas with highest growth:
- Midland, TX had the highest GDP growth for any metropolitan area in the country at 24.1%.
- Another Texas metro area, San Angelo, came in second with 11.4% GDP growth. San Angelo had 1.85% growth in durable goods manufacturing and 1.09% growth in professional services.
- Lake Charles, LA came in third with 10.3% GDP growth. Lake Charles saw growth of 3.76% in the construction industry.
- Greeley, CO was fourth in GDP growth at 9.9% with 3.65% growth in natural resources and mining.
- Wheeling, WV rounded out the top five with 9.5% growth. Wheeling saw 7.93% growth from natural resources and mining.
Furthermore, the Dallas metropolitan area had the highest GDP growth at 8.5% out of the top 10 metro areas by GDP.
Which is a problem, as opposed to what Dick Fisher said [7] - that the collapse in oil prices was a net positive for Texas - it has not been, at all...
[8]
Which means all those superlatives above from 2014's economic growth are now gone! And not coming back anytime soon.