Texas

Texas: just keeps running

Texas ranked 13th in the EPI states ranking, with the EPI score of 90.8%, or B- level, in 2014. Although the state had lower than US average unemployment, along with strong GDP growth, it’s EPI score was weighed down by its high budget deficit.

Texas has the second largest economy in the country, which accounts for almost 10% of U.S. total GDP, and has a GDP the size of Canada. The oil-rich state has benefited from America's shale gas boom. Since its big oil bust in the 1980s, Texas diversified into several industries to its repertoire: technology, health care and education among others. Still, there is some concern that Texas will slow down a lot in 2016 as cheap oil hurts the energy sector and spills over into real estate and other industries. However, state’s oil and gas extraction is still the state’s largest sector and contributes 8.9% of the state’s entire GDP and is the country’s leading energy producer.

The unemployment rate in Texas was 5% in 2014, still below the US average, and Texas continues to be one of the top destinations for people to move to in the United States. In fact, three of the five fastest growing U.S. cities -- Houston, Austin and San Antonio – are all in Texas. Regional inflation was slightly above US average at 1.7%, while the budget deficit was high at 5.5% - more than one percentage point about US average. GDP growth was still above the US average at 3% but has been declining since 2012.