How Healthy is South Dakota’s Economy

On our side of the state, here in Sioux Falls, (in particular) we tend to see the economy as booming. The influx of people into our city and the constant flow of new businesses, restaurants, and retail organizations opening here give us a glowing portrait of South Dakota's economy.

But according to financial website WalletHub, we may be wearing rose-colored glasses when we view the economy of the entire state. Overall, South Dakota came in at number 40, out of all the states in terms of how well our economy is doing, statewide.

WalletHub determined the best and worst performing state economies by comparing all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 3 main categories, 1)Economic Activity, 2) Economic Health and 3) Innovation Potential.

Within those 3 major categories, they looked at things like exports, start-up activity, unemployment rates, median annual household incomes, government surpluses/debts, poverty rates, educational attainment, entrepreneurial activity and more.

When all was said and done the category we did best in (9th place) was Economic Health. This category encompasses unemployment (which is extraordinarily low here), foreclosure rates, growth of the number of businesses, educational attainment and more.

As it turns out, however, one state that you would think would be an economic powerhouse, (due to tourism alone) has a lower ranking than South Dakota and that is Hawaii in 48th place. Go figure!

These are the Top 5 States with the Best Economies:

1. Washington
2. Utah
3. Massachusetts
4. California
5. Colorado

You can see the complete report at WalletHub.

Source: WalletHub