Head of the 2013 class (again): North Dakota

North Dakota is like the kid at school who gets all the awards. She can’t help it. Everyone else tries hard, but she’s just that good.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis came out with its most recent estimates on state gross domestic product for 2013. Several Ninth District states were well above average, with Montana and South Dakota both cracking 3 percent and Minnesota not far behind at 2.8 percent.

But North Dakota was running laps around most states at 9.7 percent growth last year. It beat the next closest state (Wyoming) by two full percentage points (see Chart 1).

Those following economic activity in the Ninth District know that North Dakota’s performance is no fluke, the result of a sustained oil boom that started in the early part of the last decade. Since 2003, the state has seen its economy grow at an annual compound rate of 6.6 percent (adjusted for inflation). That's double the growth rate of all but four states over this period.

To put that in context, the state’s economy has roughly doubled since 2003 (inflation-adjusted) to $56 billion in annual output. By comparison, the Montana and South Dakota economies have also done very well among states over this period, ranking among the top quarter in annual growth. Considerably smaller in output compared with Montana and South Dakota in 2003, North Dakota easily leapt over both in total output over the past decade (see Chart 2).