A new study from WalletHub ranks Georgia ninth overall in state economy rankings. The study used three factors in determining the rankings – economic activity, economic health and innovation potential. Georgia ranked high across the first two but lagged in innovation potential.
The three factors are used to come up with an overall total score. Washington state scored the highest with 81.3. There’s a drop to second with Utah coming in at 74.24 and then Massachusetts right behind at 73.02. California comes in third despite an economic health rank of 32 – it’s ranking of 3rd for economic activity and innovation potential continue to keep it afloat despite some problems that could cause trouble.
Georgia and Texas are the only states in the south in the top 10 – Texas comes in at 10th behind Georgia. Georgia’s showing comes in roughly around where it’s population and GDP rankings are as well. According to Census data from 2017, Georgia now ranks 8th in total population, right behind Ohio (whose economy was ranked 31st in the study).
Georgia is also ranked 9th in total GDP, two behind Ohio in this case, New York adjacent New Jersey jumps into the top 10 at number 9 for total GDP. California remains king in overall GDP, if it were it’s own country, it would rank fifth in the world – surpassed only by the U.S., China, Japan and Germany. Looking at the numbers, one begins to realize just how large and prosperous the U.S. really is. Georgia is ranked 9th in the U.S. but even it would rank 23rd in the world, coming in just behind Taiwan and ahead of Sweden.
The study from WalletHub looked at 28 different measures to include into the three categories. These include the unemployment rate, the underemployment rate and growth in personal income. It also included data from some of the lower-income or at-risk populations. Share of uninsured population, share of the population in poverty and average educational attainment were all included.
The “innovation potential” score, where Georgia struggled, included share of jobs in high-tech industries, share of jobs by STEM professionals, independent inventor patents, industry R&D investment and entrepreneurial activity. Atlanta is now home to a number of startup hubs and the city is actively recruiting more of the type of economic activity that is measured in innovation potential.
The innovation potential ranking from WalletHub is at odds with a new report from FitSmallBusiness, which called Atlanta the best place in North America to launch a startup outside of New York and San Francisco. Much of this is owed to the cost of living and doing business in Atlanta, which was also recently ranked as the most affordable big city. For a young company looking to find an office location, $80 per square foot to rent space in New York and California may leave Atlanta looking pretty good.
Georgia is in a good position and watching the innovation rankings over the next few years will be interesting to see.
