Vintage Viz: China's Export Economy in the Early 20th Century
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Vintage Viz: China’s Export Economy in the Early 20th Century

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Infographic showing China's export economy in the early 20th century (1914)

Vintage Viz: China’s Export Economy in the Early 20th Century

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there” is the oft-quoted first line of L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel, The Go-Between .

A statement that is as profound as it is banal. In other words, when we do history, we’re a bit like tourists. If we really want to understand the past, we have to think like a local.

The infographic above, Aspects of Principal Exports of Chinese Goods to Foreign Countries , is the first in a series that we’re calling Vintage Viz , which presents a historical visualization along with the background and analytical tools to make sense of it.

Today, the People’s Republic of China is the second largest economy in the world, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and a growing military power . But at the dawn of the 20th century, things were much, much different.

Opium and the Opening of China to the West

Early Sino-Western trade was restricted by the Qing emperors to three ports, and after 1757, just one, in what became known as the Canton System. This name came from the one remaining port city of the same name, present-day Guangzhou.

Foreign trade was tightly monitored and subject to stiff tariffs, and Western traders chafed under these restrictions. So when in 1839, Chinese authorities moved to shut down opium smuggling—an important source of profit for foreign merchants—Western powers saw their chance and used the pretext to revise the terms of trade by force.

In what became known as the Opium Wars, 1839-1842 and 1856-1860, first Great Britain and then an Anglo-French alliance defeated imperial China and imposed punitive treaties that included indemnities and lowered tariffs, but also expanded the number of ports open to foreign traders, first to five and by 1911, to more than 50.

Map of China in 1904

Westerners were exempted from local laws, Christian missionaries were allowed to proselytize freely, and the opium trade was legalized. Hong Kong was also ceded to Great Britain at this time.

The Treaty Port Era, also known as the Century of Humiliation , was perhaps too much for the country to bear. The weakened central government was beset by popular unrest, including the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), which killed 20 million people, and the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), so-named for the secret society that led the movement, the Righteous and Harmonious Fists.

Eventually, the last Chinese emperor was deposed and a republic declared in 1911. Nevertheless, the government was too weak to impose its will, and was repeatedly challenged by warlords.

So as we approach the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and the period covered by our visualization, we find China weakened internally by civil strife, and externally by Western powers.

The History of this Century-Old Pie Chart

Aspects of Principal Exports of Chinese Goods to Foreign Countries captures Chinese exports for 1914, and comes from The New Atlas and Commercial Gazetteer of China: A Work Devoted to Its Geography & Resources and Economic & Commercial Development .

Originally published in 1917 and edited by Edwin J. Dingle for the Far Eastern Geographical Establishment, the volume contains a wealth of data for the period. According to the book’s Preface, it “seeks to give all the information that is essential to the business-man in regard to a country… about which less is known than in regard to any similar area in the world.”

The visualization breaks down total Chinese exports for 1914 in haikwan taels (hk. tls.), a unit of silver currency used to collect tariffs. In 1907, one haikwan tael was worth $0.79 U.S. dollars.

Official figures come from the Chinese Maritime Customs Service . This was set up by foreign consuls after the First Opium War to collect tariffs to guarantee the payment of treaty indemnities.

Exports in 1914 represented 345 million hk. tls., a 14.4% decrease from 1913, likely owing to the outbreak of the First World War that same year.

Apart from “Other Metals and Minerals, Sundries, etc,” which served as a catch-all category, the largest categories were silks and teas of various types, representing 22.6% and 10.4% of total exports respectively.

Export Item Value (hk. tls.)
Animals, Living 5,270,910
Beancake 21,734,135
Bristles 4,347,582
Coal 8,624,805
Cotton Goods 2,012,128
Cotton, Raw 12,339,549
Eggs, Fresh, Preserved and Frozen 4,192,535
Fire crackers and fire works 2,435,841
Grasscloth 1,422,727
Mats and Matting 3,326,819
Medicines 2,672,341
Oil, Bean and Nutgalls 6,027,967
Oil, Groundnuts 2,414,900
Oil, Wood 3,736,275
Opium, Chinese 250,255
Other Metals and Minerals, Sundries, etc 74,449,181
Paper 2,864,983
Ramie 1,664,463
Seed, Rape 2,662,349
Seed, Sesamum 6,355,317
Sheep’s Wool 6,658,962
Silk Cocoons 2,078,721
Silk Piece Goods 10,841,472
Silk Pongees 4,720,914
Silk Waste 5,025,679
Silk, Raw, not Steam Filature 2,811,367
Silk, Raw, White, Steam Filature 37,384,485
Silk, Raw, Wild not Filatures 4,072,777
Silk, Raw, Yellow Steam Filatures 1,267,413
Silk, Raw, Yellow, (not Steam Filature) 4,439,073
Silk, Re-Reeled 5,552,127
Skins and Hides Undressed (Cow and Buffalo) 13,499,340
Skins, Goat Untanned 3,207,974
Straw Braid 1,104,310
Tallow, Animals and Vegetables 3,175,270
Tea Brick, Black 6,711,019
Tea Brick, Green 2,323,259
Tea, Black 16,203,547
Tea, Green 10,785,584
Timber 1,820,273
Tin, in Slabs 7,978,558
Vermicelli Macaroni 1,957,827
Wheat 3,850,179
Yellow Beans 19,005,709
Total 345,280,901

Below are some more details that emerge from this visualization.

All the Tea in China

The Chinese tea trade was the subject of another visualization in the Atlas. It shows that China had been steadily losing ground to British India. Between 1888-1892 Chinese exports to Great Britain were 242 million pounds against India’s 105 million pounds. By 1912-1913, India had surpassed China to export 279 million pounds against 198 million pounds.

In 1914, the majority of Chinese exports went to Russia, 902,716 piculs in all. A picul is equal to “as much as a man can carry on a shoulder-pole” or about 133 pounds.

The Silk Road to Profits

Silk has long been in demand in the West as a luxury good, giving its name to the overland trade route that connected East and West for centuries: the Silk Road.

In 1914, China was the largest producer and exporter of silks in the world. On an annual basis, China averaged 14 million pounds, compared to the number two spot, Japan, at 11 million pounds, and number three, Italy, at 9 million pounds. Together, these three controlled 81.7% of the global silk trade.

Chart showing China's silk supply in 1914

The Opium of the Masses?

The opium trade, the pretext that opened China to foreign trade, was still big money in 1914.

A total of 37 million hk. tls. were imported in 1914 from India, up 11.9% from 1908. This is actually down from a peak of 41 million hk. tls. in 1913.

Chart showing China's opium trade in the early 20th century

In 1907, China signed the Ten Year Agreement with India, which ultimately phased out the opium trade. By 1917 the trade was all but extinguished.

Back to the Future

The Aspects of Principal Exports of Chinese Goods to Foreign Countries is a far cry from the contemporary trade picture. China’s top export in 2021 was in the category “telephones for cellular networks or other wireless networks,” and was worth $147.1 billion .

But it’s worth noting that China today is a direct result of this period. The resentment created during the Century of Humiliation would eventually help lead to Mao Zedong, the Long March, and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China.

And in 1979, the Chinese central government would set up the first of their own “treaty ports,” in the form of special economic zones, places where foreign companies could set up shop. But this time, it wasn’t foreign powers who were making the rules.

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Mapped: The Largest 15 U.S. Cities by GDP

In this visual, we’ve ranked the top U.S. metropolitan areas in terms of their GDP. How does your city rank?

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Mapped: The Largest 15 U.S. Cities by GDP

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 .

America’s Economic Hubs

There are some obvious winners when it comes to the largest U.S. cities by GDP, including NYC, Los Angeles, Dallas, and San Francisco.

In the table below, we’ve listed each of the 384 metropolitan areas out of the dataset all the way down to last place, Sebring-Avon Park, Florida, alongside respective ranks and GDP:

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
#16 Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI $283,660,258
#17 San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA $267,973,544
#18 Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO $253,399,051
#19 Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD $222,967,241
#20 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA $213,183,465
#21 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC $207,866,150
#22 Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX $193,773,558
#23 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL $190,708,533
#24 St. Louis, MO-IL $187,569,544
#25 Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA $186,570,323
#26 Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN $171,737,526
#27 Pittsburgh, PA $168,021,049
#28 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL $167,279,974
#29 Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN $163,031,737
#30 Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN $162,062,985
#31 Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA $160,542,566
#32 Columbus, OH $154,509,800
#33 Kansas City, MO-KS $154,328,892
#34 Cleveland-Elyria, OH $147,637,827
#35 San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX $144,384,474
#36 Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV $136,198,676
#37 Salt Lake City, UT $118,494,536
#38 Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI $111,479,649
#39 Raleigh-Cary, NC $108,288,115
#40 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC $107,067,798
#41 Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT $106,507,622
#42 Jacksonville, FL $101,367,263
#43 Richmond, VA $99,388,754
#44 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT $98,751,750
#45 Providence-Warwick, RI-MA $96,913,356
#46 Oklahoma City, OK $86,662,243
#47 Memphis, TN-MS-AR $86,493,147
#48 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN $82,866,115
#49 New Orleans-Metairie, LA $81,829,573
#50 Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY $76,991,435
#51 Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY $73,995,509
#52 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA $73,876,512
#53 Birmingham-Hoover, AL $70,874,148
#54 Rochester, NY $69,341,714
#55 Grand Rapids-Kentwood, MI $68,401,313
#56 Urban Honolulu, HI $67,383,319
#57 Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA $61,171,285
#58 Durham-Chapel Hill, NC $60,814,699
#59 Tulsa, OK $60,392,165
#60 Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA $58,332,732
#61 New Haven-Milford, CT $57,541,201
#62 Madison, WI $56,636,713
#63 Baton Rouge, LA $56,199,218
#64 Worcester, MA-CT $54,941,620
#65 Knoxville, TN $52,343,257
#66 Greenville-Anderson, SC $52,328,843
#67 Bakersfield, CA $52,239,044
#68 Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ $50,960,155
#69 Charleston-North Charleston, SC $50,704,392
#70 Tucson, AZ $50,231,611
#71 Fresno, CA $49,987,063
#72 Dayton-Kettering, OH $49,548,210
#73 Albuquerque, NM $49,480,431
#74 Columbia, SC $48,214,448
#75 Syracuse, NY $46,414,861
#76 Greensboro-High Point, NC $45,574,221
#77 North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL $44,746,013
#78 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA $43,867,213
#79 Trenton-Princeton, NJ $43,633,044
#80 Boise City, ID $43,601,402
#81 Colorado Springs, CO $43,522,096
#82 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR $42,669,983
#83 Midland, TX $42,035,915
#84 Akron, OH $41,058,875
#85 Wichita, KS $40,586,374
#86 Toledo, OH $40,546,884
#87 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL $39,813,620
#88 Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY $39,375,465
#89 Portland-South Portland, ME $39,089,209
#90 Winston-Salem, NC $38,504,784
#91 El Paso, TX $37,507,586
#92 Springfield, MA $37,189,530
#93 Provo-Orem, UT $36,866,060
#94 Stockton, CA $36,790,065
#95 Reno, NV $35,471,910
#96 Ogden-Clearfield, UT $35,071,325
#97 Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA $34,450,601
#98 Chattanooga, TN-GA $34,425,793
#99 Huntsville, AL $34,086,472
#100 Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA $33,306,884
#101 Boulder, CO $33,182,418
#102 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL $33,144,404
#103 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR $33,102,945
#104 Vallejo, CA $33,100,194
#105 Lancaster, PA $33,048,548
#106 Lexington-Fayette, KY $32,851,535
#107 Manchester-Nashua, NH $32,729,580
#108 Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA $32,178,609
#109 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC $31,718,339
#110 Jackson, MS $30,785,111
#111 Salinas, CA $30,712,263
#112 Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL $30,589,541
#113 Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA $30,040,721
#114 Lansing-East Lansing, MI $29,363,629
#115 Ann Arbor, MI $28,604,834
#116 Anchorage, AK $28,210,676
#117 Modesto, CA $26,519,792
#118 Sioux Falls, SD $26,063,548
#119 Savannah, GA $25,681,434
#120 Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL $25,516,019
#121 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX $25,508,724
#122 Salisbury, MD-DE $25,194,103
#123 Fort Wayne, IN $25,156,180
#124 Corpus Christi, TX $24,937,471
#125 Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL $24,603,801
#126 Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX $24,407,762
#127 Fort Collins, CO $24,381,467
#128 Asheville, NC $24,350,043
#129 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL $24,309,017
#130 Fayetteville, NC $24,254,218
#131 Shreveport-Bossier City, LA $24,153,731
#132 Naples-Marco Island, FL $24,020,049
#133 Springfield, MO $23,930,761
#134 Mobile, AL $23,876,616
#135 Peoria, IL $23,599,643
#136 York-Hanover, PA $23,406,852
#137 Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA $23,284,271
#138 Lafayette, LA $22,650,406
#139 Lincoln, NE $22,492,557
#140 Greeley, CO $22,082,249
#141 Reading, PA $22,055,785
#142 Green Bay, WI $21,991,068
#143 Killeen-Temple, TX $21,967,641
#144 Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC $21,787,862
#145 Salem, OR $21,487,178
#146 Evansville, IN-KY $21,248,968
#147 Gulfport-Biloxi, MS $21,177,139
#148 Port St. Lucie, FL $20,762,211
#149 Norwich-New London, CT $20,743,047
#150 Visalia, CA $20,580,771
#151 Montgomery, AL $20,250,047
#152 Canton-Massillon, OH $20,167,014
#153 Tallahassee, FL $20,148,962
#154 Cedar Rapids, IA $19,793,178
#155 San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA $19,639,637
#156 Elkhart-Goshen, IN $19,271,838
#157 Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL $18,899,397
#158 Eugene-Springfield, OR $18,848,436
#159 Gainesville, FL $18,353,884
#160 Roanoke, VA $18,297,657
#161 Wilmington, NC $18,203,444
#162 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA $18,076,112
#163 Spartanburg, SC $17,914,096
#164 Kennewick-Richland, WA $17,836,850
#165 Fargo, ND-MN $17,706,417
#166 Flint, MI $17,234,628
#167 Longview, TX $17,134,932
#168 South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI $17,031,977
#169 Rockford, IL $17,005,386
#170 Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC $16,787,117
#171 Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH $16,470,842
#172 Columbus, GA-AL $16,456,091
#173 Lubbock, TX $16,402,001
#174 Amarillo, TX $16,313,319
#175 Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA $16,245,024
#176 Appleton, WI $16,202,188
#177 Bellingham, WA $16,036,428
#178 Kalamazoo-Portage, MI $15,946,455
#179 Duluth, MN-WI $15,905,385
#180 College Station-Bryan, TX $15,896,707
#181 Lake Charles, LA $15,791,901
#182 Charlottesville, VA $15,762,678
#183 Burlington-South Burlington, VT $15,669,774
#184 Rochester, MN $15,644,852
#185 Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ $15,313,041
#186 Barnstable Town, MA $15,150,695
#187 Bloomington, IL $15,140,725
#188 Waco, TX $15,125,143
#189 Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA $15,104,427
#190 Utica-Rome, NY $14,678,570
#191 Clarksville, TN-KY $14,546,292
#192 Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA $14,373,182
#193 Laredo, TX $13,581,543
#194 Gainesville, GA $13,561,088
#195 Charleston, WV $13,553,478
#196 Brownsville-Harlingen, TX $13,225,538
#197 Champaign-Urbana, IL $13,219,093
#198 Topeka, KS $13,204,822
#199 Springfield, IL $13,019,072
#200 Tyler, TX $13,002,122
#201 Tuscaloosa, AL $12,913,789
#202 Ocala, FL $12,907,979
#203 Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV $12,755,632
#204 Bend, OR $12,618,710
#205 Lafayette-West Lafayette, IN $12,537,390
#206 Erie, PA $12,509,399
#207 Napa, CA $12,387,136
#208 Binghamton, NY $12,314,327
#209 St. Cloud, MN $12,202,920
#210 Columbia, MO $12,077,178
#211 Iowa City, IA $11,989,228
#212 Yakima, WA $11,864,827
#213 Macon-Bibb County, GA $11,818,017
#214 Oshkosh-Neenah, WI $11,586,606
#215 Billings, MT $11,570,641
#216 Athens-Clarke County, GA $11,562,554
#217 Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, SC $11,497,194
#218 Lynchburg, VA $11,430,306
#219 Odessa, TX $11,399,343
#220 Wausau-Weston, WI $11,250,695
#221 Wheeling, WV-OH $11,239,365
#222 Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA $11,197,979
#223 Florence, SC $11,018,873
#224 Medford, OR $10,949,122
#225 Fort Smith, AR-OK $10,920,156
#226 Greenville, NC $10,841,765
#227 Merced, CA $10,465,518
#228 Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI $10,356,019
#229 Eau Claire, WI $10,308,773
#230 Panama City, FL $10,269,545
#231 Sioux City, IA-NE-SD $10,111,866
#232 Chico, CA $10,006,052
#233 Dover, DE $9,984,324
#234 Idaho Falls, ID $9,915,330
#235 El Centro, CA $9,912,905
#236 Jacksonville, NC $9,900,984
#237 Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL $9,891,548
#238 Jackson, TN $9,779,929
#239 State College, PA $9,750,456
#240 Harrisonburg, VA $9,499,442
#241 Redding, CA $9,419,468
#242 Saginaw, MI $9,363,549
#243 Houma-Thibodaux, LA $9,350,744
#244 La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN $9,294,924
#245 Johnson City, TN $9,219,695
#246 Racine, WI $9,100,374
#247 Warner Robins, GA $8,993,124
#248 Yuma, AZ $8,977,170
#249 Lima, OH $8,962,374
#250 Jefferson City, MO $8,956,976
#251 Abilene, TX $8,848,793
#252 Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ $8,796,885
#253 Monroe, LA $8,699,152
#254 Kingston, NY $8,622,165
#255 Morgantown, WV $8,597,534
#256 California-Lexington Park, MD $8,554,244
#257 Janesville-Beloit, WI $8,530,214
#258 Terre Haute, IN $8,502,107
#259 East Stroudsburg, PA $8,493,417
#260 Niles, MI $8,455,695
#261 Flagstaff, AZ $8,444,850
#262 Winchester, VA-WV $8,419,006
#263 Bowling Green, KY $8,368,247
#264 Las Cruces, NM $8,339,710
#265 St. George, UT $8,338,042
#266 Joplin, MO $8,319,062
#267 San Angelo, TX $8,284,455
#268 Bloomington, IN $8,272,024
#269 Blacksburg-Christiansburg, VA $8,271,597
#270 Bismarck, ND $8,243,740
#271 Coeur d'Alene, ID $8,112,478
#272 Yuba City, CA $8,104,050
#273 Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL $8,063,835
#274 Dalton, GA $7,950,074
#275 Decatur, IL $7,856,804
#276 Dubuque, IA $7,840,579
#277 Manhattan, KS $7,818,079
#278 Bangor, ME $7,813,558
#279 Rocky Mount, NC $7,799,020
#280 Sheboygan, WI $7,747,640
#281 Pittsfield, MA $7,682,977
#282 Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA $7,659,302
#283 Jackson, MI $7,651,976
#284 Santa Fe, NM $7,636,186
#285 Dothan, AL $7,636,116
#286 Ames, IA $7,583,257
#287 Rapid City, SD $7,565,027
#288 Battle Creek, MI $7,528,043
#289 Glens Falls, NY $7,446,782
#290 Grand Junction, CO $7,444,077
#291 Burlington, NC $7,440,110
#292 Pueblo, CO $7,436,671
#293 Logan, UT-ID $7,425,275
#294 Wenatchee, WA $7,403,597
#295 Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ $7,376,321
#296 Auburn-Opelika, AL $7,335,523
#297 Decatur, AL $7,282,688
#298 Kankakee, IL $7,282,382
#299 Hanford-Corcoran, CA $7,258,824
#300 Columbus, IN $7,205,692
#301 Hattiesburg, MS $7,181,156
#302 Wichita Falls, TX $7,096,972
#303 Ithaca, NY $7,044,555
#304 Lake Havasu City-Kingman, AZ $7,037,905
#305 Alexandria, LA $7,037,021
#306 Watertown-Fort Drum, NY $6,972,539
#307 Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH $6,966,489
#308 Lebanon, PA $6,911,784
#309 Punta Gorda, FL $6,911,071
#310 Madera, CA $6,907,890
#311 Chambersburg-Waynesboro, PA $6,846,649
#312 Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, KY $6,819,777
#313 Muskegon, MI $6,795,782
#314 Missoula, MT $6,780,085
#315 Altoona, PA $6,736,868
#316 Monroe, MI $6,716,820
#317 St. Joseph, MO-KS $6,700,369
#318 Cheyenne, WY $6,608,922
#319 Williamsport, PA $6,562,069
#320 Valdosta, GA $6,529,753
#321 Jonesboro, AR $6,494,679
#322 Fairbanks, AK $6,477,984
#323 Albany, GA $6,462,473
#324 New Bern, NC $6,436,366
#325 Owensboro, KY $6,434,476
#326 Ocean City, NJ $6,279,126
#327 Grand Forks, ND-MN $6,226,443
#328 Morristown, TN $6,218,224
#329 Carbondale-Marion, IL $6,206,570
#330 Mankato, MN $6,157,026
#331 Texarkana, TX-AR $6,086,205
#332 Longview, WA $6,047,768
#333 Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL $5,989,958
#334 Casper, WY $5,887,565
#335 Twin Falls, ID $5,878,885
#336 Staunton, VA $5,865,980
#337 Sherman-Denison, TX $5,852,474
#338 Midland, MI $5,836,461
#339 Fond du Lac, WI $5,817,790
#340 Goldsboro, NC $5,761,092
#341 Farmington, NM $5,698,394
#342 Lawton, OK $5,636,670
#343 Lewiston-Auburn, ME $5,614,156
#344 Albany-Lebanon, OR $5,608,491
#345 Lawrence, KS $5,586,561
#346 Sumter, SC $5,539,578
#347 The Villages, FL $5,507,387
#348 Cleveland, TN $5,423,969
#349 Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ $5,399,087
#350 Mansfield, OH $5,251,489
#351 Homosassa Springs, FL $5,247,686
#352 Corvallis, OR $5,242,566
#353 Johnstown, PA $5,197,201
#354 Springfield, OH $5,162,330
#355 Brunswick, GA $5,136,201
#356 Anniston-Oxford, AL $5,108,424
#357 Victoria, TX $5,082,222
#358 Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA $4,916,778
#359 Hammond, LA $4,897,538
#360 Grand Island, NE $4,871,762
#361 Cape Girardeau, MO-IL $4,838,122
#362 Beckley, WV $4,563,061
#363 Rome, GA $4,539,453
#364 Michigan City-La Porte, IN $4,521,182
#365 Kokomo, IN $4,488,369
#366 Muncie, IN $4,486,204
#367 Hinesville, GA $4,427,847
#368 Gettysburg, PA $4,310,644
#369 Elmira, NY $4,230,830
#370 Carson City, NV $4,225,603
#371 Bay City, MI $4,158,772
#372 Great Falls, MT $4,150,622
#373 Cumberland, MD-WV $4,025,355
#374 Parkersburg-Vienna, WV $4,000,337
#375 Pine Bluff, AR $3,996,508
#376 Hot Springs, AR $3,907,112
#377 Pocatello, ID $3,732,010
#378 Grants Pass, OR $3,666,285
#379 Danville, IL $3,645,245
#380 Walla Walla, WA $3,642,288
#381 Lewiston, ID-WA $3,274,461
#382 Gadsden, AL $3,175,372
#383 Enid, OK $2,926,730
#384 Sebring-Avon Park, FL $2,894,022
All U.S. Metro Areas $20,943,239,585

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.

The Fastest Growing Cities

Although many of the top ranking cities are not surprising, there are a number of up-and-coming cities in the list. A report from the Kenan Institute, at the University of North Carolina’s Business School, reveals the fastest growing cities in the U.S. in terms of GDP growth year-over-year. Here’s a look at the top 10:

Rank City State GDP Growth (2022)
#1 San Francisco/Bay Area California 4.8%
#2 Austin Texas 4.3%
#3 Seattle Washington 3.5%
#4 Raleigh/Durham North Carolina 3.4%
#5 Dallas Texas 3.1%
#6 Denver Colorado 3.0%
#7 Salt Lake City Utah 2.8%
#8 Charlotte North Carolina 2.5%
#9 New Orleans Louisiana 2.4%
#10 Orlando Florida 2.4%

San Francisco, Seattle, and Dallas appear on both the overall GDP size and growth lists. Dallas’ economy is driven in large part by a growing healthcare industry. The city also continues to attract talent being home to large companies AT&T, CBRE Group, and Texas Instruments.

North Carolina is home to two of the fastest growing metropolitan areas, Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte. These cities may be ones to watch as they are becoming hubs of tech, research, and manufacturing. In fact, North Carolina was recently ranked as the most attractive U.S. state to do business in and both cities are among the fastest growing in terms of population.

The economic center of gravity within the U.S. could be shifting away from the traditional centers of power towards booming cities in the South and West of the United States. The Kenan Institute found that the recovery of hospitality and leisure sectors has helped destinations in these regions like New Orleans and Orlando. Additionally, the shift towards high-tech industry jobs, remote work, and cheaper housing have made these cities very attractive.

Of course, the sunny climate in these cities is an attractive selling point as well.

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