”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.

Buzz: Congratulations, Florida! You joined the trillion-dollar economy club. But you’re still smaller that the four-county Southern California economy.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed gross domestic product data for counties and states for 2021, compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. We compared this broad measure of business output to the pre-pandemic average pace of 2018-19 to show a growth rate without the gyrations of 2020’s coronavirus lockdowns.

Topline

First, ponder the immense business mass within the four Southern California counties.

The combined GDP for Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties was $1.12 trillion for 2021, the fourth consecutive year with 13 digits in the total. Other than California in its entirety, the only states with greater output were Texas’ $1.82 trillion and New York’s $1.51 trillion. Florida was No. 4 nationally with its GDP hitting $1 trillion for the first time.

And looking at the World Bank’s global scorecard, Southern California’s output was slightly larger than all the business done in the Netherlands, the 17th biggest economy on the planet.

Next, look at the local pace of expansion.

Southern California’s output was up $40 billion vs. the 2018-19 average – an increase that exceeds Wyoming’s entire $36 billion GDP for one year.  Only four states – California, Texas, Florida and Washington – had bigger GDP growth since 2018-19.

But here’s a sour note: When the region’s economic heft was measured against the growth, the pace looked slow.

The four-county region’s 3.7% GDP growth vs. 2018-19 trailed the nation’s 4.1% overall expansion rate. And Southern California badly trailed the 9.2% growth found in the Golden State’s other 54 counties combined.

Details

Ponder 2021’s GDP, county-by-county locally …

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Los Angeles: $712 billion GDP, No. 1 for any U.S. county. That’s on par with Pennsylvania’s $711 billion GDP. Globally, L.A. ranks above No. 21 Poland.

L.A. growth was $20 billion vs. 2018-19, the No. 6 increase among all counties. But it was only a 2.9% expansion pace in those two years – ranking just 57th among the 100 biggest county economies on a percentage-growth basis.

Orange: $238 billion GDP, No. 8 nationally. That’s between Connecticut’s $247 billion and Oregon’s $228 billion. Globally, Orange County is slightly larger than Iran at No. 49.

OC growth was $10 billion, No. 14 nationally, and the expansion pace of 4.3% in the two years ranked 40th among the top 100.

San Bernardino: $88 billion GDP, No. 38 nationally. That’s not far off New Mexico’s $94 billion and above New Hampshire’s $83 billion. Globally, that’s just above Luxembourg at No. 67.

San Bernardino County’s growth was $5.5 billion, No. 28 nationally. Its expansion pace of 6.7% in two years ranked 24th among the top 100.

Riverside: $84 billion GDP, No. 42 nationally. It also falls between New Mexico and New Hampshire. Globally, it’s on par with Sri Lanka at No. 70.

Riverside County’s growth was $4.6 billion, No. 33 nationally, and 5.8% growth in two years ranked No. 31 among the top 100.

Bottom line

Yes, at the end of 2022, this 2021 data can seem a bit dated. But these figures reminds us of the region’s mammoth economic machine as they put local business production on a national and global scale.

Let’s also note how all of California ranked nationally for 2021.

The $2.88 trillion in statewide GDP ranked No. 1 among the states and was just behind No. 7 France globally.

The Golden State’s $188 billion increase from 2018-19 also was No. 1 among the states.

And 7% growth vs. 2018-19 was the ninth-best expansion pace for a state.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]