The Seattle metro area was the third-fastest growing economy among the top 15 US Metro Areas last year, according to data on 2016 Metropolitan GDP released last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
In 2015, the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area generated a gross GDP dollar value of $281 billion. In 2016, the metro’s total economic output rose to $293 billion, an increase of 4.3%. Seattle is the 11th largest MSA economy in the country, following Atlanta and just ahead of Miami. Of the other top 15 metro economies only San Francisco, the 7th largest MSA economy with a GDP of $406 billion, and San Jose, the 13th largest MSA economy with a GDP of $236 billion, grew faster than Seattle, with growth rates of 5.4% and 5.9%, respectively.
When the list is expanded to include the top 100 metro areas, Seattle still ranks 9th for highest growth in 2016. Seattle’s 2016 growth rate was the highest it has seen in three years, though 2011 did hit a growth rate of 4.8%.
It should come as no surprise that the information technology industry is leading Seattle’s growth. The IT sector alone contributed 1.55% of total GDP growth in 2016, substantially more than any other sector. The trade and professional and business services sectors also saw strong growth in 2016. Manufacturing, however, took a hit.
Here are the complete 2016 GDP rankings for the top 100 US Metro Areas:
