SmartAsset’s latest analysis has compiled three measurements to create a growth index, which includes the growth in the number of businesses established, the growth of a county’s gross domestic product, and the number of new building permits issued per thousand homes. The top-ranked county in the nation is Los Angeles County, with a value of 100.
Harris County received a growth index score of 39.51, placing it above Cook County, Ill., home to 5.1 million people in Chicago and its close-in suburbs, with a growth index of 35.26. Gross domestic product estimates the total value of goods and services produced in an area, from oil refining to Houston Astros home games. Harris County, being the most populous county in Texas, with about 4.2 million people, leads all other counties in the state, and similarly, Los Angeles County leads all U.S. counties.
Harris County’s GDP grew by about 20% to nearly $500 billion in 2022 from about $400 billion in 2019, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Texas’ GDP was about $2.4 trillion in 2022, making the state the eighth-largest economy in the world that year. Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties were among SmartAsset’s list of top 10 Texas counties in terms of incoming investment, and among the top 100 in the nation. Montgomery County leads the state in new building permits, with more than 50 per 1,000 current homes.
The Greater Houston Partnership expects the region to see continued GDP growth this year despite a recent slowdown in job growth after several years of feverish hiring post-pandemic. The ongoing global recovery from the pandemic is good for global trade
