[dropcap]D[/dropcap]espite having a higher than national average unemployment rate and slow gross domestic product (GDP) growth, Texas ranks as the 20th best economy in the United States, according to new numbers from Wallet Hub.
Texas scored a 55.40 out of a possible 100 in Wallet Hub’s ranking, which obtained rankings for economic activity, economic health and potential innovation.
The state tied with Louisiana for 1st place when it comes to most exports per capita among the 50 states.
According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Texas had a value of over $230 million in exports in 2016. Of that amount, 18 million came from petroleum, oil and minerals, while ten million derived from parts and accessories for machines and units.
Texas ranked 24th in annual median household income, according to WalletHub’s numbers. According to 2015 Census Bureau statistics, the average median household income in Texas is $55,653, which was slightly below the national 2015 median income.
But the state is 41st in GDP growth. GDP is the market value of goods and services produced by the labor and property located in a state, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis website.
According to May 2017 statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Texas current dollar GDP in 2016 was $1.6 billion, which ranked second in the country.
However, the state’s Real GDP grew by only 0.4 percent. Despite the low figure in 2016, Texas’ compound annual growth rate for Real GDP was 3 percent between 2006 and 2016, which was higher than the national compound growth rate during the same time period.
Roughly 15 percent of Texas total GDP came from finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing.
The state is also struggling with a higher than national average unemployment rate. Texas’ rate was 5 percent of the current workforce, according to March 2017 statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate in March was 4.5 percent, and has gone down to 4.3 percent in May.
Approximately 676,000 Texans were unemployed in April. Of the roughly 13.5 million people in the civilian labor workforce in Texas, 12.8 million are employed.
In the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area, roughly 36,000 people, or 3.2 percent of the workforce, is unemployed.
But Texas is atop the list of states that have seen the highest rate of start-ups.
According to the 2017 Kaufmann Index, which measures the trends in start-up businesses and entrepreneurs, Texas has the second highest rate of new entrepreneurs in the country. According to the index, 400 out of every 100,000 Texans become new entrepreneurs in the state.
The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan area was second only to Miami in start-up activity rate, according to the Kauffman Index. The rate of new entrepreneurs is 510 per 100,000 people in the area.
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Economic Performance of Texas (1=Best; 25=Avg.)
- 41st – GDP Growth
- 1st – Exports per Capita
- 6th – Startup Activity
- 21st – % of Jobs in High-Tech Industries
- 24th – Annual Median Household Income
- 28th – Change in Nonfarm Payrolls (2016 vs. 2015)
- 20th – Government Surplus/Deficit per Capita
- 39th – Unemployment Rate
