Resources

Definitions

Gross domestic product (GDP) by county is the value of goods and services produced by the county's economy less the value of goods and services used up in production. GDP by county is the sub-state counterpart of the Nation's gross domestic product (GDP), the Bureau's featured and most comprehensive measure of U.S. economic activity.

Current-dollar statistics are valued in the prices of the period when the transactions occurred—that is, at "market value." Also referred to as "nominal GDP" or "current-price GDP."

Real values are inflation-adjusted statistics—that is, these exclude the effects of price changes.

Contributions to growth are an industry's contribution to the county's overall percent change in real GDP. The contributions are additive and can be summed to the county's overall percent change.

Statistical conventions

Quantities and prices. Quantities, or "real" measures, are expressed as index numbers with a specified reference year equal to 100 (currently 2012). Quantity indexes are calculated using a Fisher-chained weighted formula that incorporates weights from two adjacent periods (quarters for quarterly data and annuals for annual data). "Real" dollar series are calculated by multiplying the published quantity index by the current dollar value in the reference year (2012) and then dividing by 100. Percent changes calculated from chained-dollar levels and quantity indexes are conceptually the same; any differences are due to rounding.

Chained-dollar values are not additive because the relative weights for a given period differ from those of the reference year.

Chained-dollar values of GDP by county are derived by applying national chain-type price indexes to the current dollar values of GDP by county for 65 detailed NAICS-based industries. The chain-type index formula that is used in the national accounts is then used to calculate the values of total real GDP by county and real GDP by county at more aggregated industry levels. Real GDP by county may reflect a substantial volume of output that is sold to other areas and countries. To the extent that a county's output is produced and sold in national markets at relatively uniform prices (or sold locally at national prices), real GDP by county captures the differences across counties that reflect the relative differences in the mix of goods and services that the areas produce. However, real GDP by county does not capture geographic differences in the prices of goods and services that are produced and sold locally.

Relation of GDP by county to national GDP. The statistics of GDP by county released today are consistent with statistics of GDP by state released November 7, 2019, which were based on the July 2019 update of the national income and product accounts and the October 2019 update of the annual industry economic accounts.

List of News Release Tables

Table 1. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by County, 2015 - 2018

Table 2. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for a Selected Metropolitan Area and County, 2015 - 2018