The Provo metropolitan economy grew faster than any of the other top 100 metro economies in 2016, according to an analysis of recently released economic data conducted by SpareFoot.
In 2015, the Provo-Orem, UT Metropolitan Statistical Area generated a gross GDP dollar value of $19.3 billion, making it the 96th largest metro economy. In 2016, the metro’s total economic output rose to $20.4 billion, an increase of 6.1 percent. That’s a higher growth rate than any other top 100 metro in 2016, and made Provo the 95th largest metro economy, passing the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Provo’s growth rates are higher than booming tech-centric economies like San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, and Raleigh.
This is the second year in a row that Provo’s GDP growth has topped charts: in 2015, Provo was the second-fastest growing top 100 economy, with a growth rate of 10.3%, just behind San Jose’s 10.4%.
Despite topping metros like San Francisco and San Jose in terms of year-over-year growth, Provo remains a far smaller economy. San Francisco is the 7th largest metro economy, with a GDP twenty times Provo’s size, while San Jose is the 13th largest economy, with a GDP roughly ten times Provo’s size.
Still, when compared to metro economies of a similar size, Provo’s performance is remarkable. Provo passed the Augusta this year and looks set to pass Scranton in 2017 to become the 94th largest metro economy in the US.
According to the BEA data, the Information Technology sector made the largest contribution to Provo’s growth, boosting the area economy by 1.68%. Other high-growth sectors included Professional and Business Services, Construction, Finance-Insurance-Real Estate, and Trade. Only Manufacturing saw a year-over-year decline.
