The United States has the largest GDP in the world in nominal terms, and urban areas are a major contributor to the country’s economic might. In fact, metropolitan areas account for roughly 90% of U.S. economic output.
In this visual we’ve ranked the economic output of the top 15 U.S. cities from New York City to Minneapolis, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The data covers 2021, which is the most recent release from BEA.
It’s important to note that the data considers entire surrounding metropolitan areas, so as an example, New York City includes neighboring population centers such as Newark, NJ, as well as Jersey City—reaching a GDP of nearly $2 trillion.
Measuring a city’s economy at the metro level can provide a more accurate representation of its economic activity. This is because the metropolitan areas include not only the central city but also the surrounding suburban and rural areas that are economically connected to it.
| Rank | City | GDP (in thousands) |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $1,992,779,274 |
| #2 | Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | $1,124,682,354 |
| #3 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | $764,583,227 |
| #4 | San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | $668,677,573 |
| #5 | Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $607,628,505 |
| #6 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $598,333,263 |
| #7 | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $537,066,232 |
| #8 | Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $531,671,846 |
| #9 | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $479,966,484 |
| #10 | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $477,580,629 |
| #11 | Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | $473,823,474 |
| #12 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL | $417,147,866 |
| #13 | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $410,418,579 |
| #14 | Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $316,090,586 |
| #15 | Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $296,969,112 |
As the graphic above makes obvious, NYC’s GDP towers over the rest. The Big Apple is the nerve center for a number of high-impact industries, including finance and media.
Moving down the ranking, LA has a $1.1 trillion economy, followed by Chicago, with a GDP of just over $760 billion.
Source: www.visualcapitalist.com
