(The Center Square) – South Dakota is among the ten states with the worst economies, according to a new report released this week.
Across 28 metrics using key measurements of economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential, South Dakota ranked 43rd.
Personal finance website WalletHub compiled the rankings using data from multiple sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Metrics that were assessed under economic activity included change in GDP from 2021 to 2022, share of fast-growing firms, state gross public debt as a percent of GDP, exports per capita, and startup activity.
While real GDP increased in 46 states in the fourth quarter of 2022, South Dakota saw a decrease of 4.3%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Under economic health, the report looked at states’ unemployment rates, underemployment rates, change in nonfarm payrolls from 2021 to 2022, change in total civilian labor force, increase in ratio of full-time jobs to part-time jobs, median annual household income adjusted for cost of living, growth in state personal income, government surplus or deficit per capita, foreclosure rate, growth in number of businesses, fiscal health and average educational attainment of recent immigrants.
South Dakota enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. At the same time, it has one of the lowest state-government surpluses per capita, according to the report. It is also among the states with the lowest average of educational attainment for recent immigrants.
South Dakota’s median household income was $63,920 as of 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The measurement of innovation potential included factors such as share of jobs in high-tech industries, share of jobs STEM employment, independent inventor patents per 1,000, entrepreneurial activity, and other indicators.
STEM jobs were estimated to make up approximately 3% of all jobs in South Dakota as of 2018. The state had a demand of 14,350 STEM jobs in 2008, which means the demand grew by 12% in that time frame, according to an analysis by Georgetown University.
The rate of new entrepreneurs in South Dakota was 0.31% in 2017, with approximately 62 new employer startup firms less than a year old per 1,000 employer businesses, according to the Kauffman Index of Startup Activity.
The five worst state economies were Hawaii, Mississippi, Alaska, Louisiana, and West Virginia. At the top were Washington, Utah, Massachusetts, Colorado, and California, according to the report.