Alabama’s economy is growing, but not as fast as the economy in many neighboring Southern states.
The Yellowhammer State’s gross domestic product – the value of goods produced and services provided in a year – increased by about $9 billion between 2015 and 2018, a 4.8 percent increase, according to recently released data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That brings Alabama’s total GDP to $198 billion.
Alabama is firmly in the middle of the pack nationally. The state’s GDP and GDP percent growth both rank 27th in the United States. Its GDP growth in terms of total dollars ranks 26th.
Nearby Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee all have seen faster GDP growth since 2015. Florida and Georgia rank 9th and 10th nationally, but the top 10 is dominated by the West Coast. The eastern-most state in the top eight is Colorado at No. 8.
Economies on the West Coast are doing very, very well. | graphic by Ramsey Archibald
Most Alabama counties are seeing economic growth, but growth is slow compared to the rest of the country. The fastest growing economy in the state – Lee County – ranks just 550th in the country.
Forty-four of Alabama’s 67 counties saw their GDP rise by more than 1 percent between 2015 and 2018, according to the BEA. Lee County, the home of Auburn University and one of the fastest-growing counties in the state, saw the largest increase at just over 10 percent.
Lee’s GDP increased by $550 million to just over $6 billion in 2018.
Jefferson, the most populous county in the state, had a GDP of nearly $42 billion in 2018. Madison, home of the booming tech hub Huntsville, was a distant second with nearly $22 billion.
But Madison’s economy is growing at a faster rate than Jefferson’s. Madison’s GDP has grown by over 9 percent since 2015, the fourth fastest rate of growth in the state. Jefferson’s grew by 5.7 percent.
But Jefferson added over $2.2 billion in GDP over those four years. That’s more than the total GDP of 48 Alabama counties.
Mobile County has the state’s third-largest GDP at $17.9 billion, with growth of just 1.9 percent. Montgomery’s GDP is $12.6 billion, and grew by 2.8 percent. Shelby, with $10.3 billion GDP, was the only other county with more than $10 billion.
Jefferson County’s GDP is nearly twice as large as the next closest county. | graphic by Ramsey Archibald
Alabama’s top 10 counties in terms of percent growth since 2015 is a somewhat eclectic list.
First-place Lee isn’t exactly surprising, but Washington County, a rural county just north of Mobile along the Mississippi border, is second. It’s GDP increased by 9.8 percent.
Washington is followed by two of the fastest-growing counties in the state – Shelby and Madison. But behind them is Coffee County at 8.9 percent. The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by Bullock, Chambers, Marshall, Baldwin and Coosa counties.
Baldwin is the fastest-growing county in Alabama in terms of population. Coosa’s GDP increased by 7.4 percent, but it has the lowest total GDP in the state at $177 million.
Most of Alabama’s counties are seeing some kind of economic growth. | graphic by Ramsey Archibald
Not all of Alabama is seeing economic growth. Several counties are basically stagnant, and 18 saw their GDP decrease since 2015.
The biggest percentage loss was in Perry, where the GDP decreased by nearly 10 percent. Only 208 counties in the country, out of more than 3000, saw larger losses.
Do you have an idea for a data story about Alabama? Email Ramsey Archibald at rarchibald@al.com, and follow him on Twitter @RamseyArchibald.