Visualizing 20 American Cities with Economies as Big as Countries

[M II A II R II K]

Visualizing 20 American Cities with Economies as Big as Countries


By Juan Carlos

Read More: https://howmuch.net/articles/economi...ared-countries

The U.S. accounts for one-fourth of the entire world economy, or about $21.44T in nominal GDP. It can be hard to comprehend just how big that is, so we created a new map comparing the GDP of individual cities against entire countries.

- We created our visual comparing GDP between U.S. cities and other countries by gathering data from two places. The World Bank publishes GDP figures for every country in the world, supplying estimates whenever official numbers are difficult to find. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis breaks down GDP by metro areas, letting you easily see the biggest economic engines in the country. Combining the datasets to create our map indicates just how big the U.S. economy truly is.

- The greater New York metro area alone accounts for the same amount of GDP as the entire country of Canada ($1.8T). Even mid-sized cities like Riverside-San Bernardino, CA generate as much economic output as member countries in the EU, like Slovakia. Dallas is about as important from a pure GDP perspective as Hong Kong ($512B), which has its own stock exchange. Chicago alone carries as much economic weight as Iraq ($689B), and the latter has an astonishing 145 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves.

Top 10 Largest U.S. Cities by GDP:

1. New York-Newark-Jersey City: $1.8T

2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: $1T

3. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin: $689B

4. San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley: $549B

5. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria: $541B

6. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington: $513B

7. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land: $479B

8. Boston-Cambridge-Newton: $464B

9. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington: $444B

10. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta: $397B

.....

[MolsonExport]

These aren't cities, these are conurbations. Some are physically larger than countries. More hyphens than you will find in a Quebec phonebook.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

These aren't cities, these are conurbations. Some are physically larger than countries. More hyphens than you will find in a Quebec phonebook.

True. The Inland Empire has almost as many people as Slovakia, and covers a larger area.

[Steely Dan]

LOL!

Chi-Raq indeed!

[MattBerryOfficial]

I've always thought the USA was overly ambitious with how it defined it's metro areas.

[Stay Stoked Brah]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

True. The Inland Empire has almost as many people as Slovakia, and covers a larger area.

it's going off of CSAs which uses counties.
empty land in riverside-san Bernardino metro area https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ri...!4d-116.419389

[Minato Ku]

Big western world cities are going to have GDP as big or bigger than larger but less wealthy countries.

Anyway, I think that some of the comparison with some small countries falls a bit flat.
I mean Atlanta MSA is more populated than Ireland.
Atlanta MSA : 6.5 million
Ireland : 4.9 million

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by Minato Ku

Big western world cities are going to have GDP as big or bigger than larger but less wealthy countries.

Anyway, I think that some of the comparison with some small countries falls a bit flat.
I mean Atlanta MSA is more populated than Ireland.
Atlanta MSA : 6.5 million
Ireland : 4.9 million

Specifically about Ireland, much of their GDP is a matter of accounting, a bit virtual. I'd say it's more useful to compare with more on the ground economy, let's say Portugal or Denmark or Finland or whatever the place.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the subject, aside the 2015-2016 crisis that placed Brazil once again behind Italy, COVID destroyed the currency exchange. IMF estimate for 2020 dropped Brazil from US$ 1.9T to US$ 1.3T tri. It will fall way behind New York and neck and neck to Los Angeles CSA.

Of course most of it is virtual. Anecdotally, looking at that thread where a forumer posted several apartments for rent in Philadelphia, I was shocked by prices. A similar place/region renting for US$ 2,500 would worth R$ 2,500 (US$ 1.00 = R$ 5.35) in São Paulo. And São Paulo is Brazil's primate city and today the most expensive.

[JManc]

I'm shocked Iraq's GDP is that big considering they are rebuilding still.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by JManc

I'm shocked Iraq's GDP is that big considering they are rebuilding still.

I don't know where they got those numbers. I checked and it stands at US$ 178B (IMF 2020). And that's already an impressive figure for them.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by yuriandrade

Of course most of it is virtual. Anecdotally, looking at that thread where a forumer posted several apartments for rent in Philadelphia, I was shocked by prices. A similar place/region renting for US$ 2,500 would worth R$ 2,500 (US$ 1.00 = R$ 5.35) in São Paulo. And São Paulo is Brazil's primate city and today the most expensive.

Philly is pretty cheap by global standards, especially given the relatively high incomes.

I'm not understanding the comparison with SP. You're saying that a $2500 USD Philly apartment would rent for less than $500 USD in SP? That sounds crazy low for prime RE in a global megacity. Mexico City would be much more expensive.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by JManc

I'm shocked Iraq's GDP is that big considering they are rebuilding still.

Rebuilding might be causing it since some of my old hoods are having a building boom, like in Tikrit. Mosul is still trashed though, I believe. The central government is also gettin' its act together!

[The North One]

A lot of these list MSA but then show CSA on the map, which is it?

[Stay Stoked Brah]

Originally Posted by The North One

A lot of these list MSA but then show CSA on the map, which is it?

actually, I think it's MSA because d.c. / Baltimore are separated, also s.f. / San Jose and l.a. / riverside

[dubu]

most of that money being made is spent on food and gas. in third world countries they have all there food local and they ride bikes.

[Yuri]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Philly is pretty cheap by global standards, especially given the relatively high incomes.

I'm not understanding the comparison with SP. You're saying that a $2500 USD Philly apartment would rent for less than $500 USD in SP? That sounds crazy low for prime RE in a global megacity. Mexico City would be much more expensive.

Yes, considering current exchange rates. In a good, central location, you'll rent a 40-50 m² apartment for R$ 2,500 or so (plus R$ 500-600 for the condominium fee). It can go north of it in the most expensive neighbourhoods, but very hard to exceed R$ 5,000 for such small apartments.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by TWAK

Rebuilding might be causing it since some of my old hoods are having a building boom, like in Tikrit. Mosul is still trashed though, I believe. The central government is also gettin' its act together!

Isn't Mosul in Kurdistan? With all their natural resources and relative stability...I thought they had their shit together more than the rest of Iraq.

[TWAK]

Originally Posted by JManc

Isn't Mosul in Kurdistan? With all their natural resources and relative stability...I thought they had their shit together more than the rest of Iraq.

At one point the eastern area of the city was, I think, at least ethnically. Now the central government controls the city and surrounding area. The Kurds might claim it, although Kirkuk is more a flashpoint city with that.

[ocman]

Originally Posted by JManc

I'm shocked Iraq's GDP is that big considering they are rebuilding still.

Make it sadder that they have nothing to show for it.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by The North One

A lot of these list MSA but then show CSA on the map, which is it?

That's MSA.

Here, is CSA: