Here Are The State Economies Rebounding Post-Pandemic – And The Areas Of The Country Still Struggling

The Commerce Department revealed last week that consumer spending rose 0.5% last month after surging in March due to the fact that more Americans are venturing back out into the world to spend money.

Unfortunately, the rebound isn’t happening across the country. At least not yet.

Certain state economies took a bigger hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Take Hawaii as an example, which currently has a 9% unemployment rate due to the fact that the state relies heavily on tourism which took a big hit during the quarantine.

So which states are seeing the biggest growth?

The personal-finance website WalletHub recently released a report on the best and worst state economies so far in 2021.

“U.S. economic growth depends heavily on the performance of individual states. But some contribute more than others. California, for instance, is the fifth-largest economy in the world, boasting a GDP larger than that of countries like the U.K., France, and India.

In order to determine which states are pulling the most weight even during this time of economic difficulty, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 29 key indicators of economic performance and strength.”

Here are the best state economies in 2021:

1. Utah
2. Washington
3. California
4. Massachusetts
5. Idaho
6. Colorado
7. Maryland
8. Oregon
9. Arizona
10. Georgia

According to the survey, these states have the worst economies this year:

42. Wyoming
43. Mississippi
44. Maine
45. Nevada
46. Kentucky
47. Oklahoma
48. Alaska
49. Louisiana
50. West Virginia
51. Hawaii

Here are more interesting findings from the WalletHub study.

• Louisiana has the highest value of exports per capita, $12,782, which is 56.8 times higher than in Hawaii, the state with the lowest at $225.
• New Hampshire has the lowest share of the population living in poverty, 7.60 percent, which is 2.7 times lower than in Mississippi, the state with the highest at 20.30 percent.
• Vermont has the lowest foreclosure rate, 0.0015 percent, which is 11.9 times lower than in Delaware and Nevada, the states with the highest at 0.0179 percent.
• Massachusetts has the highest share of jobs in high-tech industries, 8.37 percent, which is 4.1 times higher than in Arkansas, the state with the lowest at 2.03 percent.

Click here to view the full report.

To read more great studies conducted by WalletHub, check out the best states to find summer employment, the worst states for Millennials, and the best cities to start a new career in 2021.