Hamilton County has Ohio’s third-largest economy, data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released yesterday shows — the lowest among counties containing the state’s three major urban areas.
At $88.7 billion, Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, had the largest gross domestic product of the state’s 88 counties last year. Franklin County, home to Columbus, had the second-largest GDP at $86.5 billion. Hamilton County trailed well behind at $67 billion.
Part of that wide gap is population related — Cuyahoga County’s population is roughly 1.2 million and Franklin County’s is even larger at almost 1.3 million, while Hamilton County’s is just less than 814,000. The prevalence of manufacturing in Cuyahoga County is also a big driving factor in its state-leading economic figures, while Franklin County’s status as the state’s governmental hub likely buoys its numbers somewhat.
What’s more, the state’s two largest economies are pulling away from Hamilton County, which grew at just .6 percent last year. Cuyahoga’s economy grew by roughly 2 percent last year, while Franklin County’s grew slightly faster at 2.1 percent. And while Cuyahoga and Franklin counties’ growth rates have increased each year since 2016, Hamilton County’s has fallen.
It isn’t all bad news for the region by any stretch, however. Data for metropolitan areas also released by the Bureau shows that the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Statistical Area’s economy is the largest in the state and growing quickly, going from $125 billion in 2015 to $141 billion last year. The MSA includes Northern Kentucky, Southeast Indiana and suburbs and smaller municipalities surrounding the city in other counties. That growth rate is the highest of any metro in the three states.
Insurance, finance, real estate, rental and leasing industries made up the largest share of that total, generating almost $28 billion.
“So much of this data confirms what we’ve been seeing across our region,” Cincinnati Chamber President and CEO Jill Meyer said in a statement yesterday. “This data underscores the growth and success of our region, and importantly, the impact our counties have on their state’s overall growth. The work of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber will continue to drive this momentum and growth well into the future.”
The Cleveland MSA, meanwhile, went from $123 billion to $134 billion in that time, while the Columbus MSA grew from $116 billion to $129 billion in that four-year stretch.
This is the first time the Bureau of Economic Analysis has released county-specific data in addition to data for MSAs.
This article appears in Dec 11-24, 2019.
