What state has the best economy? 49 states must be evergreen with envy
By Craig Hill
The News Tribune
California might have the sixth largest economy in the world, but no state has a better economy than Washington, according to a recent ranking by WalletHub.
The online credit score company ranked the states based on economic activity and health and innovation potential. Washington was the only state to rank in the top four in all three categories.
In second was California, which ranked second in economic activity (behind Washington) and innovation potential (behind Massachusetts) but was 26th in economic health while Washington was fourth.
Utah, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia rounded out the top five. West Virginia was ranked last behind Louisiana and Mississippi.
The ranking asked 14 economists to compare the state and D.C. across 27 economic indicators.
Washington had the highest economic output growth ahead of Oregon, Utah, New Hampshire and Florida. It also tied for first in most exports per capita with Texas and Louisiana. It ranked fifth in highest change in non-farm payrolls (Utah was first) and fourth in highest percentage of jobs in high-tech industries (Massachusetts was first).
