12 States With the Best Economies: 2023

U.S. economic growth depends heavily on the performance of individual states, but some states contribute more than others, according to a study released Monday by WalletHub. Take California, which Bloomberg reported is poised to become the world's fourth biggest economy as soon as this year. That would put it ahead of Germany and behind only the U.S., China and Japan on the list of the world's largest economies. Meanwhile, Vermont's GDP is 1% the size of California's, at around $36 billion compared with California's $3.6 trillion, the WalletHub report said. To determine which states are pulling the most weight during this time of economic difficulty caused by inflation, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across the key dimensions of:

• Economic activity, including change in GDP from 2021 to 2022, exports and startup activity
• Economic health, including unemployment, household income, business growth and fiscal health
• Innovation potential, including the share of jobs in high-tech industries, the rate of independent inventor patents per 1,000 working-age people and entrepreneurial activity.

Researchers evaluated 28 metrics in total and graded each on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest economic performance. They then determined the weighted average of each state and the district across all metrics to calculate its overall score. See the gallery for the 12 states with the best economies. (Image: Shutterstock)