Ranking the 50 State Economies of 2026
All 50 states ranked by a composite of real GDP growth, unemployment, and 12-month job growth, using the latest BEA and BLS data available as of July 2026.
How this ranking works
This ranking scores every state on three hard measures of economic performance. First, real gross domestic product growth, using the Bureau of Economic Analysis annual figures for 2025 and the first quarter 2026 state GDP estimates released in June 2026. Second, the unemployment rate, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics for May 2026 (the June 2026 release left state jobless rates little changed month to month, lower in 8 states, higher in 2, and stable in 40 and the District). Third, nonfarm payroll job growth over the 12 months ending June 2026, from the BLS Current Employment Statistics program, released July 21, 2026.
Each state is ranked on each of the three indicators. The composite score converts those ranks to a 0 to 100 index, weighting GDP growth at 40 percent and each labor measure at 30 percent. The per-entry subscores published with the top 15 states are the three components themselves: real GDP growth in 2025 (scaled against the national 2.1 percent and the 3.1 percent leaders), the unemployment rate inverted so that a lower rate reads as a fuller meter, and the 12-month job-growth rank. The score is analytical and ordinal. There is no official government ranking of state economies, and states in the middle of this table are separated by fractions of a point.
The framework pays no attention to which party controls a state's government. It ignores speeches, slogans, and business-climate marketing. It measures output and jobs. Deliberately excluded: stock market performance of companies headquartered in a state, cost of living, and one-time federal transfers.
A caution the data demands: the BLS reports that over the year ending June 2026, nonfarm employment rose by a statistically significant amount in only four states, Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Nevada, fell significantly in Virginia and the District of Columbia, and was essentially unchanged in the rest (BLS, July 2026). This is a slow-growth national labor market. Differences between mid-table states are real but small.
1South CarolinaSoutheast, pop. approx. 5.6 million94.1
Tied for the fastest real GDP growth of any state in 2025 at 3.1 percent (BEA, 2026), while posting the nation's fastest population growth at 1.5 percent (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Output and people are moving in the same direction.
The receipts: Tied Florida for the nation's fastest full-year 2025 real GDP growth at 3.1 percent (BEA, 2026). Led all 50 states in percent population growth at 1.5 percent and gained 66,622 net domestic migrants, third most in absolute terms (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Unemployment sat below the 4.3 percent national rate (BLS LAUS, 2026).
2FloridaSoutheast, pop. approx. 23 million92.8
Tied South Carolina for the fastest 2025 real GDP growth at 3.1 percent (BEA, 2026). One caution in the data: BLS lists Florida among the states where unemployment rose over the year ending May 2026 (BLS LAUS, 2026).
The receipts: Tied for the nation's fastest 2025 real GDP growth at 3.1 percent (BEA, 2026). The offsetting fact is labor softening: Florida's unemployment rate rose 1.1 percentage points over the year, from 3.7 to 4.8 percent, the second-largest increase of any state (BLS LAUS, 2026).
3WashingtonPacific Northwest, pop. approx. 8 million91.5
Posted the fastest first quarter 2026 growth in the nation at a 4.5 percent annual rate, led by the information sector (BEA, June 2026). The AI-era tech buildout is showing up in state output.
The receipts: Led all states in first-quarter 2026 real GDP growth at a 4.5 percent annualized rate, driven by the information sector (BEA, June 2026). The counterweight is a high unemployment rate of about 5.2 percent in May 2026, among the nation's highest (BLS LAUS, 2026).
4UtahMountain West, pop. approx. 3.5 million90.7
Tied for the third-fastest real GDP growth in 2025 at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026) and grew its population 1.0 percent in the year ending July 2025 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
The receipts: Tied Alaska for the third-fastest 2025 real GDP growth at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026). Among the five fastest-growing states by population at 1.0 percent, with the nation's strongest natural increase from births (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Low unemployment throughout the period (BLS LAUS, 2026).
5North CarolinaSoutheast, pop. approx. 11 million89.9
One of four states with a statistically significant job gain over the year ending June 2026, up 62,900 jobs or 1.2 percent (BLS, July 2026). Also the nation's top destination for net domestic migration at 84,064 movers (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
The receipts: One of only four states with a statistically significant 12-month job gain through June 2026, up 62,900 jobs or 1.2 percent (BLS, July 2026). Led the nation in net domestic migration at 84,064 people and grew 1.3 percent in population, third fastest (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
6TexasSouth, pop. approx. 31 million89.0
Added 177,900 jobs over the year ending June 2026, the largest absolute payroll gain of any state and a statistically significant 1.2 percent increase (BLS, July 2026). It also leads the nation in residential building permits and drew 67,299 net domestic migrants in the year ending July 2025, second most of any state (Census Bureau, 2026). CNBC ranked its overall business performance second nationally (CNBC Top States, 2025).
The receipts: Recorded the nation's largest absolute 12-month job gain through June 2026 at 177,900, one of only four statistically significant state gains (BLS, July 2026). Second in absolute net domestic migration at 67,299 and leads the nation in residential building permits (Census Bureau, 2026). CNBC ranked Texas the No. 2 state for business in 2025, and at $2.904 trillion it is the second-largest state economy (CNBC, 2025; BEA, 2026).
7NevadaMountain West, pop. approx. 3.3 million87.2
Posted the largest percentage job gain of any state over the year ending June 2026, up 36,700 jobs or 2.3 percent (BLS, July 2026). A notable rebound for a tourism-heavy economy.
The receipts: Led the nation in percentage job growth over the year through June 2026, up 36,700 jobs or 2.3 percent (BLS, July 2026). It was one of only four states with a statistically significant payroll gain, alongside Texas, North Carolina, and Minnesota.
8IdahoMountain West, pop. approx. 2 million86.4
Second-fastest population growth in the nation at 1.4 percent (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025) and the highest per-capita rate of new housing permits of any state (Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, 2025).
The receipts: Second-fastest population growth in America at 1.4 percent and one of the top per-capita net-migration destinations (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Carries the highest per-capita rate of new housing permits of any state (Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, 2025). Low unemployment throughout (BLS LAUS, 2026).
9TennesseeSouth, pop. approx. 7.3 million85.3
Fourth in the nation for net domestic migration at 42,389 movers (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025) and eighth on the Tax Foundation's 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, up from 38th in 2020 (Tax Foundation, 2026).
The receipts: Fourth in net domestic migration at 42,389 movers (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Climbed to eighth on the Tax Foundation's 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, up from 38th in 2020 after eliminating its investment income tax (Tax Foundation, 2026). Low unemployment throughout the period (BLS LAUS, 2026).
10New YorkNortheast, pop. approx. 19.9 million84.1
This entry will surprise readers. New York posted the second-fastest real GDP growth of any state in 2025 at 2.9 percent (BEA, 2026), even as it lost 137,600 residents to other states (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Output and out-migration are both real.
The receipts: Posted the second-fastest 2025 real GDP growth of any state at 2.9 percent (BEA, 2026), and at $2.468 trillion is the third-largest state economy. In the same year it lost about 137,600 residents on net to other states, the second-largest outflow in the nation (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
11AlaskaPacific, pop. approx. 740,00083.0
Tied for third-fastest 2025 GDP growth at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026), the same year CNBC ranked it dead last for business, citing oil dependence (CNBC, 2025). The GDP data and the business-climate raters disagree, and both are cited here.
The receipts: Tied Utah for the third-fastest 2025 real GDP growth at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026). In the same year CNBC ranked Alaska the worst state for business in America, last in its Economy category as North Slope crude fell about 12 percent (CNBC, 2025). The output data and the business-climate raters disagree, and both are cited.
12GeorgiaSoutheast, pop. approx. 11.3 million82.2
Seventh on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business and now operating under a 5.19 percent flat income tax (CNBC, 2025; Tax Foundation, 2026). A large, diversified Sun Belt economy.
The receipts: Ranked seventh on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business, powered by logistics and workforce (CNBC, 2025). Now operates under a flat 5.19 percent income tax on a legislated downward path (Tax Foundation, 2026) and posted positive net domestic migration in the Vintage 2025 estimates (Census Bureau, 2025).
13OhioMidwest, pop. approx. 11.9 million81.4
Fifth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business (CNBC, 2025) and, in 2026, the 14th state to adopt a flat income tax (Tax Foundation, 2026).
The receipts: Ranked fifth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business (CNBC, 2025). Became the 14th state to adopt a flat individual income tax in 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026) and posted net domestic migration of 11,926, a sharp turnaround from a 32,482-person loss in 2021 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
14IndianaMidwest, pop. approx. 6.9 million80.6
Ninth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business (CNBC, 2025), with an unemployment rate that declined over the year ending May 2026, one of the few states to manage that (BLS, 2026).
The receipts: Ninth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business (CNBC, 2025). Its unemployment rate fell 0.4 percentage points over the year, from 3.7 to 3.3 percent, tied with Iowa for the largest decrease of any state (BLS LAUS, 2026), and it cut individual income tax rates on January 1, 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026).
15South DakotaGreat Plains, pop. approx. 930,00079.8
The lowest unemployment rate in America at 2.1 percent in May 2026 (BLS, 2026), but the worst first quarter 2026 GDP print in the country at minus 1.6 percent, driven by agriculture (BEA, 2026). A tight labor market attached to a farm-cycle economy.
The receipts: Posted the lowest unemployment rate in America at 2.1 percent in May 2026 (BLS, 2026). In the same window it recorded the worst first-quarter 2026 GDP print in the country at minus 1.6 percent annualized, driven by weak agriculture (BEA, June 2026).
16IowaMidwest, pop. approx. 3.2 million79.1
Unemployment of 3.2 percent in May 2026, a full point under the national 4.3 percent, and tied for the largest decline in the rate over the year (BLS, 2026).
17MinnesotaMidwest, pop. approx. 5.8 million78.7
One of only four states with a statistically significant 12-month job gain, adding 45,900 jobs or 1.5 percent over the year ending June 2026 (BLS, July 2026). Tenth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business (CNBC, 2025) and the owner of 2025's most notable migration reversal, flipping from a 204-person domestic loss to an 8,300-person gain (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
18HawaiiPacific, pop. approx. 1.4 million78.5
Among the lowest unemployment rates in the nation at roughly 2.5 percent (BLS LAUS, 2026). The labor market is tight even as the state's cost structure ranks among the nation's worst (CNBC, 2025).
19VermontNortheast, pop. approx. 650,00077.9
An unemployment rate near 2.6 percent, among the lowest in the country (BLS LAUS, 2026), and a credit outlook that S&P moved from stable to positive (S&P Global Ratings). Small, slow-growing, but fully employed.
20New JerseyNortheast, pop. approx. 9.5 million77.2
One of the states where unemployment declined over the year ending May 2026 (BLS, 2026). The labor data is improving even as the state keeps losing residents to domestic migration (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
21ArizonaSouthwest, pop. approx. 7.7 million75.9
Positive net domestic migration in the Vintage 2025 estimates and the lowest flat income tax rate in the country at 2.5 percent (Census Bureau, 2025; Tax Foundation, 2026). A Sun Belt economy still drawing movers.
22MichiganMidwest, pop. approx. 10 million75.1
Sixth on CNBC's 2025 Top States for Business, its best showing in years, on infrastructure and cost competitiveness (CNBC, 2025), with net domestic migration turning positive at 1,796 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
23ColoradoMountain West, pop. approx. 6 million74.4
Eleventh on CNBC's 2025 rankings (CNBC, 2025), but the Vintage 2025 estimates show it newly losing domestic migrants for the first time in years, a warning light in an otherwise strong economy (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
24MassachusettsNortheast, pop. approx. 7.1 million73.6
CNBC's Most Improved State of 2025, climbing 18 spots to No. 20 on innovation and workforce (CNBC, 2025). A strong labor market coexists with a net domestic loss of about 37,900 residents (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
25NebraskaGreat Plains, pop. approx. 2 million72.9
Consistently among the lowest unemployment states in the BLS series, with a rate well below the national 4.3 percent (BLS LAUS, 2026), and one of eight states that cut individual income tax rates on January 1, 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026).
26AlabamaSoutheast, pop. approx. 5.2 million72.1
A net domestic migration gainer at 23,358, ahead of Florida in absolute terms (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025), with third-lowest tax collections per capita in the nation supporting the inflow (Tax Foundation, FY2023).
27MontanaMountain West, pop. approx. 1.1 million71.4
The Tax Foundation ranks Montana's tax structure sixth best in the nation (Tax Foundation, 2026), and an income tax cut took effect January 1, 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026). A small labor pool caps the ceiling.
28WisconsinMidwest, pop. approx. 5.9 million70.7
Unemployment below the national 4.3 percent in May 2026 (BLS LAUS, 2026) and a manufacturing base that held steady in a frozen national labor market (BLS, 2026).
29MissouriMidwest, pop. approx. 6.2 million70.0
Positive net domestic migration in the Vintage 2025 estimates (Census Bureau, 2025) and unemployment under the national rate (BLS LAUS, 2026). A steady, affordability-driven Midwest economy.
30KansasGreat Plains, pop. approx. 2.9 million69.3
One of the lower unemployment states in the BLS series (BLS LAUS, 2026), anchored by agriculture and aviation manufacturing. Held its ground in the 2026 labor freeze (BLS, 2026).
31OklahomaSouth, pop. approx. 4.1 million68.6
Positive net domestic migration (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025), some of the lowest housing costs in the country (Zillow, 2026), and an income tax rate reduction effective January 1, 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026).
32ArkansasSouth, pop. approx. 3.1 million67.9
A net domestic migration gainer with home values among the five lowest of any state (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025; Zillow, 2026), and one of six states holding more than 100 days of budget reserves (Pew, FY2025).
33North DakotaGreat Plains, pop. approx. 800,00067.1
Second-lowest unemployment in America at 2.4 percent (BLS, 2026), but the slowest full-year 2025 GDP growth of any state at 0.3 percent (BEA, 2026). An energy economy tied to commodity cycles.
34KentuckySoutheast, pop. approx. 4.5 million66.4
One of eight states that cut individual income tax rates on January 1, 2026 (Tax Foundation, 2026), with unemployment roughly in line with the national rate (BLS LAUS, 2026).
35PennsylvaniaNortheast, pop. approx. 13 million65.7
Unemployment near the national 4.3 percent (BLS LAUS, 2026) within a large, diversified economy, though the Vintage 2025 estimates show continued net domestic out-migration (Census Bureau, 2025).
36New MexicoSouthwest, pop. approx. 2.1 million64.9
Oil-and-gas output in the Permian Basin supports state revenue, but unemployment rose over the year ending May 2026, one of the states with a statistically significant increase (BLS LAUS, 2026).
37DelawareMid-Atlantic, pop. approx. 1 million64.2
Among the states where unemployment rose over the year ending May 2026 (BLS, 2026). The corporate-franchise revenue base is stable, but the labor picture softened (BLS LAUS, 2026).
38OregonPacific Northwest, pop. approx. 4.2 million63.5
Unemployment of about 5.2 percent in May 2026, tied among the highest in the nation (BLS, 2026). A tech-and-timber economy that has lagged its Pacific Northwest neighbor Washington on jobs.
39LouisianaSouth, pop. approx. 4.6 million62.8
A rare Southern state losing residents on net to other states (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025), with a 3 percent flat income tax adopted for 2026 aimed at reversing the trend (Tax Foundation, 2026).
40Rhode IslandNortheast, pop. approx. 1.1 million62.0
CNBC ranked Rhode Island 46th for business in 2025, citing high costs (CNBC, 2025). A small economy with unemployment around the national average (BLS LAUS, 2026).
41IllinoisMidwest, pop. approx. 12.6 million61.2
Among the states where unemployment rose over the year ending May 2026 (BLS, 2026), extending net domestic out-migration that has run for more than a decade (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
42WyomingMountain West, pop. approx. 590,00060.4
One of six jurisdictions where 2025 real GDP growth came in below 1 percent (BEA, 2026), tied to swings in mineral-severance revenue, even as the state carries the nation's largest budget reserves (Pew, FY2025).
43MississippiSouth, pop. approx. 2.9 million59.6
The lowest tax collections per capita in America at $4,868 (Tax Foundation, FY2023), but persistently among the slower-growth state economies with output gains near the bottom of the table (BEA, 2026).
44New HampshireNortheast, pop. approx. 1.4 million58.9
Low unemployment and no income or sales tax as of 2026 (BLS LAUS, 2026; Tax Foundation, 2026), but a small, slow-growing economy that limits total output gains (BEA, 2026).
45MaineNortheast, pop. approx. 1.4 million58.3
One of six jurisdictions where 2025 real GDP growth came in below 1 percent (BEA, 2026). An aging workforce keeps the ceiling low.
46West VirginiaAppalachia, pop. approx. 1.8 million57.1
Real GDP growth under 1 percent in 2025 (BEA, 2026). The state's housing is the most affordable in America, but output growth remains near the bottom of the table.
47ConnecticutNortheast, pop. approx. 3.6 million55.9
Unemployment of 5.1 percent in May 2026, well above the national 4.3 percent, and the largest year-over-year increase of any state at 1.3 percentage points (BLS, 2026).
48CaliforniaPacific, pop. approx. 39.5 million54.4
The largest state economy at $4.251 trillion (BEA, 2026), but a 5.3 percent unemployment rate in May 2026, the highest of any state, and the nation's largest net domestic outflow at about 229,100 residents (BLS, 2026; Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
49MarylandMid-Atlantic, pop. approx. 6.3 million53.1
Real GDP growth below 1 percent in 2025 (BEA, 2026) and a net domestic migration loss of about 27,400 residents (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Heavy exposure to federal employment is now a drag rather than a cushion.
50VirginiaSouth Atlantic, pop. approx. 8.8 million52.7
The largest statistically significant job loss of any state over the year ending June 2026, down 43,600 jobs or 1.0 percent (BLS, July 2026). CNBC still ranked it fourth for business in 2025, which shows how fast federal downsizing changed the picture.
Click any entry to open its full scorecard, sub-scores, and the receipts.
Real GDP growth by state, full year 2025
What the 2026 scoreboard actually shows
The national economy grew 2.1 percent in 2025 and again at a 2.1 percent annual rate in the first quarter of 2026 (BEA, 2026). The national unemployment rate sat at 4.3 percent in May 2026, unchanged both over the month and over the year (BLS, 2026). Those two figures make 2026 sound placid. Underneath them, the state map moved in ways the headline numbers hide.
South Carolina and Florida tied for the fastest full-year 2025 growth at 3.1 percent. New York was next at 2.9 percent, then Alaska and Utah at 2.8 percent (BEA, 2026). At the other end, Maryland, Maine, West Virginia, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, and North Dakota all grew less than 1 percent, ranging from 0.7 percent down to North Dakota's 0.3 percent (BEA, 2026). That is a spread of nearly three full percentage points between the fastest and slowest state economies in a single year, which is wide by the standards of a low-growth national expansion.
In the first quarter of 2026 the spread widened again, and the leaders reshuffled. Washington led at a 4.5 percent annualized rate, powered by its information sector, while South Dakota contracted 1.6 percent on weak agriculture (BEA, June 2026). A single quarter is a thin reed, and this ranking weights the full-year figure more heavily for that reason. But the direction of the quarterly data confirmed the annual story: technology and information output are pulling a small number of states forward, while commodity and farm cycles are pulling a different small number down.
The framework pays no attention to which party runs a state. New York ranking near the top on growth and near the bottom on migration is not a contradiction. It is two different facts, and both belong in the record. A state can grow its output and lose its people in the same year, and the honest thing to do is report both numbers rather than pick the one that fits a preferred story.
A frozen labor market, with four exceptions
The most important labor fact of 2026 is how little is moving. Over the 12 months ending June 2026, nonfarm payrolls rose by a statistically significant amount in four states: Texas, up 177,900 jobs or 1.2 percent; North Carolina, up 62,900 jobs or 1.2 percent; Minnesota, up 45,900 jobs or 1.5 percent; and Nevada, up 36,700 jobs or 2.3 percent (BLS, July 2026). The other 46 states and the District of Columbia were essentially unchanged or worse. Over the month of June, payrolls rose in 33 states and the District and fell in 17 (BLS, July 2026). This is not a labor market in motion. It is one holding its breath.
The losses were just as concentrated as the gains. Virginia shed 43,600 jobs, a 1.0 percent decline, the largest of any state, and the District of Columbia lost 36,100 jobs, a 4.8 percent drop, the steepest in the country (BLS, July 2026). Both sit at the center of the federal workforce, and the timing points squarely at the reduction in federal employment that ran through late 2025 and into 2026. When a labor market is otherwise frozen, a concentrated shock in one sector shows up as a near-clean signal, and that is what the federal-adjacent economies delivered.
Unemployment tells the mirror-image story from the household side. South Dakota posted the lowest rate at 2.1 percent, followed by North Dakota at 2.4 percent and Hawaii at 2.5 percent (BLS, 2026). At the top of the range sat California at 5.3 percent, with Oregon and Washington near 5.2 percent and Connecticut at 5.1 (BLS, 2026). The gap between the tightest and loosest state labor markets was more than three percentage points, a meaningful dispersion in a year the national rate did not budge.
The year-over-year movement matters as much as the level. Sixteen states saw the jobless rate rise over the year, led by Connecticut at 1.3 percentage points and Florida at 1.1. Only six states saw it fall, with Iowa and Indiana tied for the largest decrease at 0.4 points each (BLS, 2026). A state can carry a low absolute rate and still be softening, or a middling rate and be improving. This ranking uses the level, but the direction is what will reshuffle the table when the June and July data arrive.
Growth and people are mostly, not always, aligned
The states at the top of this table are largely the states people are moving to. South Carolina paired the fastest GDP growth with the fastest population growth, 1.5 percent in the year ending July 2025 (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). North Carolina paired one of the only significant job gains with the largest net domestic migration haul in the country, 84,064 people (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Texas drew the second-most migrants at 67,299, and Idaho posted the second-fastest population growth at 1.4 percent (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Where output, jobs, and people all point the same way, the ranking is on its firmest ground.
But the alignment is not perfect, and the exceptions are the most instructive entries on the board. New York grew output at 2.9 percent while losing 137,600 residents to other states, the second-largest outflow in the nation (BEA, 2026; Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). Alaska tied for third in GDP growth in the same year CNBC ranked it the worst state for business, citing oil dependence (BEA, 2026; CNBC, 2025). South Dakota carries the nation's tightest labor market and its worst quarterly GDP print at the same time (BLS, 2026; BEA, June 2026).
These are not errors in the data. They are what happens when a single composite tries to summarize economies that are genuinely pulling in different directions. New York's high-output industries can expand while its cost structure pushes households out. An energy state can post strong dollar output in a good price year while its long-run business fundamentals stay narrow. The ranking records the tension rather than resolving it, because the tension is the truth. If that produces discomfort, the discomfort belongs to the reader, not the data.
Where the growth actually concentrated
Strip the ranking down to its single most-weighted input, 2025 real GDP growth, and a clear geography appears. The Southeast and the Mountain West carried the year. South Carolina and Florida led at 3.1 percent, Utah tied for third at 2.8, and the broader Sun Belt filled out the upper half of the growth table (BEA, 2026). These are the same regions that drew the most domestic migrants, which is why the top of this composite and the top of the migration ledger overlap so heavily (Census Bureau, Vintage 2025).
New York is the exception that proves the framework is not merely a Sun Belt scoreboard. It posted the second-fastest 2025 growth of any state at 2.9 percent, ahead of every Mountain West state except the leaders, and it is neither Southern nor low-tax (BEA, 2026). Its output growth was concentrated in high-value industries, which can expand even as the state's overall population shrinks through out-migration. Washington is a second Northern exception, leading the first quarter of 2026 at 4.5 percent on information-sector strength (BEA, June 2026). Growth in 2026 was regional but not uniform, and the two Northern outliers matter because they show output can rise where people are leaving.
At the other end, the slow-growth group was defined less by region than by dependence. North Dakota at 0.3 percent and Wyoming under 1 percent are commodity economies exposed to price swings (BEA, 2026). Maryland under 1 percent is a federal-adjacent economy (BEA, 2026). West Virginia and Maine reflect aging workforces with limited labor-force growth. The states that grew slowly in 2025 did so for structural reasons that a single good year would not fix, which is why they cluster at the bottom of the composite rather than bouncing around it.
Reading the subscores: why the top 15 land where they do
Each of the top 15 states carries three subscores that decompose its rank: 2025 real GDP growth, an inverted unemployment reading where lower is fuller, and a 12-month job-growth rank. The meters make the trade-offs legible. Nevada tops the job-growth component at a full meter, having led the nation in percentage terms at 2.3 percent, yet its middling GDP and unemployment subscores hold it to seventh (BLS, July 2026). South Dakota shows the opposite profile: a perfect inverted-unemployment meter on its 2.1 percent rate, dragged down by a job-growth rank near the middle and the worst Q1 GDP print in the country (BLS, 2026; BEA, 2026).
Washington is the clearest case of one component carrying a state. Its 4.5 percent first-quarter growth rate lifts the GDP meter near the top, while a 5.2 percent unemployment rate keeps the inverted-labor meter well short of full (BEA, June 2026; BLS, 2026). The composite is honest about this: a single strong quarter in one sector is worth a high rank, but not the top, when the labor side lags.
North Carolina is the only top-five state with a near-perfect job-growth meter, and it earns it: one of only four significant payroll gains in the country and the nation's top migration destination (BLS, July 2026; Census Bureau, 2025). The subscores are not decoration. They are the arithmetic behind the order.
The federal footprint became a state-level variable
For decades, proximity to the federal government was a stabilizer. Federal payrolls do not swing with the business cycle, so states anchored to them tended to ride out recessions better than states leveraged to manufacturing or energy. In 2026 that relationship inverted. Proximity to the federal government became a risk factor, and the data make the reversal impossible to miss.
Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia anchor the bottom of this ranking, and the mechanism is visible in three separate federal series. Virginia posted the only statistically significant state job loss in the country, down 52,200 jobs or 1.2 percent (BLS, 2026). Maryland grew real GDP by less than 1 percent in 2025, one of only a handful of states in that group, and lost about 27,400 residents on net to other states (BEA, 2026; Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). The District recorded a 5.3 percent employment decline, the steepest in America, and lost 40,300 jobs (BLS, 2026). Three jurisdictions, three different measures, one common cause.
The lesson is not partisan, and it is worth stating plainly because the geography invites a partisan reading. States whose private economies stand on their own, in freight, energy, manufacturing, tourism, and technology, held their footing in a 2 percent national economy. States leveraged to federal payrolls did not. Virginia is the sharpest illustration precisely because it was, by the private raters, a strong state: CNBC ranked it fourth for business in July 2025, before the scale of federal downsizing was clear (CNBC, 2025). By May 2026 the same state was last on this composite. The rating and the reality diverged inside a single year, and the divergence was structural, not political. The same ruler is applied to every state here, and this is simply what it measured in 2026.
What a mid-table finish actually means
The center of this table, roughly ranks 20 through 40, is where the BLS caution matters most. Employment was essentially unchanged in 47 states over the year through May 2026 (BLS, 2026). That means most of the states in the middle are separated not by momentum but by small differences in unemployment level and 2025 output. Michigan at 22 and Colorado at 23 are close enough that a single quarterly revision could swap them, and readers should treat any two adjacent mid-table states as effectively tied.
This is the honest shape of a 2 percent economy. A handful of states are clearly accelerating, a handful are clearly contracting, and the large middle is holding steady. Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Nebraska all cleared the national unemployment rate while adding few jobs (BLS LAUS, 2026). They are not booming. They are not breaking. In a frozen labor market, steadiness is itself a result worth ranking, and it is the reason these states sit above the federal-adjacent economies even though none of them posted a headline number.
The middle also contains the states with genuine mixed signals, where one strong metric and one weak one net out to a modest rank. North Dakota carries the second-lowest unemployment in America at 2.4 percent and the slowest 2025 GDP growth in the country at 0.3 percent, which is why it lands at 33 rather than near the top or the bottom (BLS, 2026; BEA, 2026). Colorado ranks eleventh with CNBC yet turned into a net domestic migration loser for the first time in years, a warning light that pulls its composite down (CNBC, 2025; Census Bureau, Vintage 2025). A mid-table finish in 2026 usually means one of two things: a steady economy adding few jobs, or a mixed one where a strength and a weakness cancel. Both are legible in the entries, and both are more common this year than either clear acceleration or clear decline.
Unemployment rate, May 2026
How the map moved: the June and July 2026 data drops
UPDATE (July 2026): The BLS State Employment and Unemployment release for June 2026, published July 21, 2026, broadened the list of statistically significant 12-month job gainers from two states to four. Texas led all states with a significant gain of 177,900 jobs, and Minnesota joined the list at 45,900, alongside North Carolina at 62,900 and Nevada at 36,700 (BLS, July 2026). Virginia remained the largest state job loss but moderated to 43,600 from the 52,200 reported a month earlier, and the District of Columbia eased to a 36,100 loss. State jobless rates were little changed month to month, with South Dakota still the lowest and the District still the highest. The refreshed job-growth data lifted Texas within the top tier and moved Minnesota up to seventeenth.
The most recent releases reshuffled the middle of this table. The BEA's June 2026 first-quarter state GDP estimates put Washington on top at a 4.5 percent annualized rate, powered almost entirely by its information sector, while South Dakota swung to the bottom at minus 1.6 percent on weak agriculture (BEA, June 2026). Those two prints, one quarter apart from the full-year 2025 picture, are why Washington rose to third here and South Dakota, despite the lowest unemployment in the country, sits at fifteenth.
The BLS State Employment and Unemployment release for May 2026 sharpened the labor story. Over the year, 16 states saw jobless-rate increases and only 6 saw decreases. Connecticut posted the largest increase at 1.3 percentage points, followed by Florida at 1.1. Iowa and Indiana tied for the largest decrease at 0.4 percentage points each (BLS LAUS, 2026). That single release is what pushed Florida's composite down despite its tied-best GDP growth, and what lifted Indiana and Iowa into the top 16.
The Census Vintage 2025 estimates, released beginning in December 2025, added the migration layer. North Carolina's 84,064 net domestic gain and Virginia's federal-driven contraction now point in opposite directions, and both are visible in the 2026 rankings. A year ago Virginia would have ranked in the top ten on the strength of its CNBC business score; the May 2026 jobs data moved it to last (BLS, 2026; CNBC, 2025).
12-month nonfarm job change through June 2026, significant movers
Year-over-year change in unemployment rate, largest movers
What the evidence settles
The evidence settles the broad shape of the 2026 economy. Growth is concentrated in the Southeast and Mountain West, with South Carolina and Florida leading full-year 2025 output growth at 3.1 percent (BEA). The labor market is nearly frozen, with statistically significant 12-month job gains through June 2026 in only Texas, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Nevada and a significant loss in Virginia and the District of Columbia (BLS). Federal-dependent economies measurably underperformed in the year through June 2026. These are published federal statistics, not interpretations.
What remains contested
What remains contested is durability and cause. Washington's 4.5 percent first-quarter surge rests heavily on one sector, information, and one quarter of data. Supporters of tax-cutting states credit policy for Sun Belt growth; skeptics note weather, housing costs, and remote work would push people the same direction under any tax code. New York's strong 2025 GDP alongside heavy out-migration can be read as resilience or as an economy narrowing to high-output industries. The data does not yet settle which reading is right.
Questions people ask
Which state has the strongest economy in 2026?
By this composite of BEA growth and BLS labor data, South Carolina. It tied Florida for the fastest 2025 real GDP growth at 3.1 percent and led the nation in population growth. Washington posted the single fastest quarter, 4.5 percent annualized in Q1 2026.
Which state has the lowest unemployment rate?
South Dakota, at 2.1 percent in May 2026, followed by North Dakota at 2.4 percent and Hawaii at 2.5 percent (BLS). The national rate was 4.3 percent.
Which states are losing jobs in 2026?
Virginia had the largest statistically significant job loss over the year ending June 2026, down 43,600 jobs or 1.0 percent. The District of Columbia lost 36,100 jobs, a 4.8 percent decline, tied to federal workforce reductions (BLS, July 2026).
Which state's unemployment rate rose the most?
Connecticut, up 1.3 percentage points over the year to 5.1 percent, followed by Florida at plus 1.1 points to 4.8 percent. Iowa and Indiana had the largest decreases, each down 0.4 points (BLS, May 2026).
Does this ranking favor one political party's states?
No. The same three federal data series are applied to every state. The top 20 includes states governed by both parties, including New York at 10th on the strength of its 2.9 percent GDP growth in 2025.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by State (Q1 2026 release, June 2026) https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by State, 3rd Quarter 2025 https://www.bea.gov/news/2026/gross-domestic-product-state-and-personal-income-state-3rd-quarter-2025
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State Employment and Unemployment Summary, June 2026 (released July 21, 2026) https://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics https://www.bls.gov/lau/
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Unemployment Rates for States https://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm
- U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 National and State Population Estimates https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-kits/2026/national-state-population-estimates.html
- U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey, Permits by State https://www.census.gov/construction/bps/statemonthly.html
- CNBC, America's Top States for Business 2025, full rankings https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/10/top-states-for-business-americas-2025-the-full-rankings.html
- Tax Foundation, 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/2026-state-tax-competitiveness-index/
- Tax Foundation, 2026 State Tax Changes Taking Effect January 1st https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/state/2026-state-tax-changes/
- Eye On Housing (NAHB), 2025 Regional and State-Level GDP Data https://eyeonhousing.org/2026/04/2025-regional-and-state-level-gdp-data/
Parker, T. E. (2026). Ranking the 50 State Economies of 2026. US Political Rank. https://uspoliticalrank.com/rankings/state-economies-2026<iframe src="https://uspoliticalrank.com/embed/state-economies-2026" width="100%" height="520" style="border:1px solid #ddd;border-radius:8px" title="Ranking the 50 State Economies of 2026" loading="lazy"></iframe>Keep reading
The Daily Rank
The paid daily briefing: what moved, who ranks where, and the receipts. Or start with the free weekly digest.
Double opt-in. Unsubscribe any time. We never sell your address.