A recent study by Business Insider ranked the economies of all 50 U.S. states from best to worst. After measuring unemployment rates, GDP per capita, average weekly wages, recent growth rates for non-farm payroll jobs, GDP, house prices, and wages, Washington came out on top.
Washington scored extremely well on almost every metric. Its quarter two 2015 annualized GDP growth rate was 8.0%, by far the highest among all states. Also, the November 2015 average weekly wage of $1,073 was the second highest in the country and was 5.6% higher than the weekly wage in November 2014, the third highest wage growth rate.
To come up with the ranking, the study averaged together the seven indicator z-scores for each state to create an overall economic index. Sources of data for the study included local area unemployment statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The study ranked the District of Columbia as second on its list followed by Colorado. Oklahoma, New Mexico, and West Virginia closed out the list at 49, 50, and 51 respectively.
The ranking is good news for MBA students at the Seattle Pacific University School of Business, Government and Economics and the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. A healthy economy means more job opportunities post graduation and the potential for a greater salary.
For students at the Foster School, the ranking of the Washington economy is only one reason to attend their MBA program. The U.S. News & World Report also recently ranked the Foster School as the MBA program with the best bang for the buck. That means that not only will Foster School MBAs find themselves in a healthy workforce after graduation, but they’ll also do so with less debt than many other programs and schools. Overall, things look good in Washington.