SEATTLE, WA - The finance website WalletHub has ranked Washington state as having the best economy in the U.S. That finding is based on a number of economic factors, from number of patents filed to how many tech jobs are available. Washington came in No. 1 for highest gross-domestic product in the U.S., and most exports per capita; Washington ranked in the top five U.S. states for highest change in nonfarm payrolls, and the number of available tech jobs.

WalletHub's ranking is based on at 27 economic indicators. Washington came in above average on several , although our unemployment rate (statewide it was 4.6 percent in April) is higher than most states. And although data show the economy is strong in the Puget Sound area and in Spokane, there are large sections of the state that aren't faring so well, according to state data.

Seven counties in the state have unemployment rates in excess of 7 percent. Rural Ferry County, north of Spokane, has the state's highest unemployment rate at 10.7 percent. Counties along the Pacific Coast, including Pacific, Grays Harbor, and Wahkiakum, have rates above 7 percent. Six more counties, including Yakima and Mason, have rates just shy of 7 percent. But many of those counties - including Ferry County - have tiny populations, which exaggerates the unemployment situation. Ferry County has a labor force of about 2,540 with 272 out of work. King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties have the most unemployed people, according to state data: 34,000 people in King County are unemployed, but over 1 million are employed, for example.

Meanwhile, most of the wage growth in the state has occurred in King County, according to state data. Between 1990 and 2015, average hourly wages (adjusted for inflation) grew about $15 to $41 in King County; the next-highest average hourly growth was in Snohomish County at about $9. In some counties, wages have barely grown over that same period. Average hourly wages in Ferry and Grays Harbor counties have grown less than $3. Some counties saw wages drop. In Pacific County, the average wage fell by 24 cents to $22.51 between 2013 and 2015.

It's hard to ignore the economic brawn that Puget Sound, in particular King County, lends the state. Companies like Amazon and Microsoft continue to hire by the thousands each year, and most of the jobs are high-paying. At the same time, the region's housing economy is off the charts. Compare this $1.1 million 3,000 square-foot home in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood to this $240,000 3,500 square-foot home in Aberdeen.

The Seattle area still does have serious economic problems. A count of homeless people released by King County last week found over 11,000 homeless in the area, many who are employed. High-paying tech jobs are not for everyone, and lower and middle-class residents in Puget Sound are can barely afford rent, let alone affording a home.



Taken as a whole, Washington state looks economically great - but clearly the state's most populous counties, with King at the top, are driving that growth, and not everyone is thriving. Here's WalletHub's full ranking: