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Tracking Economic Underperformance in Counties Across the U.S. and Seventh District States

Abstract: In this article, I estimate that 80% of the population of the five states of the Seventh Federal Reserve District lives in a county that trailed the nation’s cumulative growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) and employment from near the start of the twenty-first century through 2023. Further analysis of counties’ relative economic performance suggests that the Seventh District states are unique: They have elevated shares of people living in counties that trail the nation in real GDP and employment growth; they experience more lackluster growth; and their underperforming counties experience more sluggish population and median household income growth than those outside District states.1 The prevalence of economic underperformance in the Seventh District states and its unique features suggest that local conditions may be important for understanding these counties’ economic outcomes.

JEL Classification: R1; O1;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Part of Series: Chicago Fed Letter

Publication Date: 2025-09

Volume: 511

Pages: 9