If U.S. Cities Were Countries, How Would They Rank?

By Richard Florida Jul 21 2011, 10:30 AM ET 9

San Francisco's metropolitan area contains an economy the size of Thailand. Chicago's GDP rivals Switzerland. If the largest U.S. cities were countries, where would they rank?

Kenichi Ohmae, the Japanese management guru, once noted that growing city-states were coming to replace nation-states in the global economy.

The map above confirms it, showing the economic output of America's largest metropolitan areas rivals countries as large as Argentina and Canada. Prepared by Zara Matheson of the Martin Prosperity Institute, it's based on data compiled for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and The Council for the New American City annual U.S. Metro Economies Report.

Even in crisis, our strongest cities perform the economic function of small (or sometimes, not so small) nations. If they were countries, U.S. metros would represent 37 of the world's largest economies, as I noted in an earlier post. This slideshow lists the largest U.S. metros and the countries to which they best compare.

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA

At $1.28 trillion, the NY metro is equivalent to the 13th largest nation in the world, close in scale to Canada ($1.57 trillion). Its gross metropolitan product is bigger than Australia's $1.23 trillion GDP and South Korea's $1 trillion, and just under India's ($1.6 trillion).

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  New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA

  At $1.28 trillion, the NY metro is equivalent to the 13th largest nation in the world, close in scale to Canada ($1.57 trillion). Its gross metropolitan product is bigger than Australia's $1.23 trillion GDP and South Korea's $1 trillion, and just under India's ($1.6 trillion).

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  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA 

  With a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of $737.9 billion, the LA metro's economy is bigger than Turkey's ($732.2) and slightly smaller than the Netherlands' ($782.3) -- the equivalent of the 18th largest nation in the world.

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  Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI 

  At $531 billion, Chicago's metro is the equivalent of the 21st largest economy in the world -- larger than Switzerland's ($523.3), Poland's ($469.4) and Belgium's ($466.3).

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  Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VAMD-WV

  With a GMP of $426 billion, the metro around the U.S. capitol is the 28th largest economy in the world, a little smaller than Taiwan's ($431.7 billion) and bigger than Norway's ($414.3) and Iran's ($385.7).

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  Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 

  With $378.9 and $376.8 billion in GMP, the Houston and Dallas metros are the world's 31st and 32nd largest economies. Each is bigger than Austria's ($375.5), Argentina's ($368.9), and South Africa's ($363.7).

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  Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD and San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 

  With GMPs of $347.7 and $337.4 billion respectively, the United States' seventh and eighth largest metropolitan areas are the 36th and 37th largest economies in the world. Each of them has more output than Thailand ($318.9) and the United Arab Emirates ($317.1).

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  Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH 

  The city of Boston has shrunk considerably over the last five decades, but its metropolitan area is the nation's ninth largest. With $311.3 billion in GMP, it is the 40th largest economy in the world -- bigger than Denmark's ($310.1) and Greece's ($303.4).

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  Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA

  The Atlanta metro's $270.6 billion in GMP gives it a worldwide rank of 44 -- just a little below 43rd-ranked Colombia, which has a GDP of $288 billion. Atlanta's GMP surpasses Venezuela's GDP ($241.1 billion) and Finland's ($270.6).

via theatlantic.com