America's economy rapidly shifts south
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It's not just about the coasts and the bubbles anymore: Six fast-growing states in the South now add more to the national GDP than the Northeast, the perennial powerhouse, Bloomberg reports.
Why it matters: Americans are spreading out, physically and economically.
- Those six states — Florida, Texas, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee — are in the middle of a "$100 billion wealth migration" as the U.S. economic center of gravity tilts south, Bloomberg notes.
- The switch happened during peak COVID. There's no sign it'll reverse.
By the numbers: A flood of transplants helped steer about $100 billion in new income to the Southeast in 2020 and 2021 alone, while the Northeast bled out about $60 billion, Bloomberg writes from IRS data.
The Census Bureau said in May that nine of the nation's 15 fastest-growing cities were in the South.
- Of the nine fastest-growing cities in the South, six were in Texas.
The bottom line: For years, the U.S. population has been trending south and southwest. Now money and economic activity are following.
Editor's note: This story was originally published on July 5.
