4 ms·

Yes, a lot of these sorts of measurements tend to just be population heat maps. Going down the list of most populous metro areas in the U.S. [1] or the most pop

Yes, a lot of these sorts of measurements tend to just be population heat maps. Going down the list of most populous metro areas in the U.S. [1] or the most populous counties [2], all the top places are represented in the list. Although there are a few outliers at the edges (e.g. Charlotte, NC seems to punch above its weight). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistical_areas#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistic... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_most_populous_counties_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_most_populous_coun...

ghaff 7y ago
Lowe's, Duke Energy... I'd probably have expected Wake County in that general area but that's something of a bias because of tech--and because it's the capital. As the article notes, this isn't purely explained by population--but a lot of it is. It's maybe also worth noting that, for a lot of those metros, a decent chunk of the working population lives far enough outside of the metro area to be in another county. (Some businesses are too of course but probably less than the number of people.)
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  I work for an office in the RDU aka the Research Triangle. We're mostly or entirely remote. Lots of long commutes for the people who are obligated to come in. Big names and decent salaries for the COL, though.
- non-entity 7y ago
  Charlotte is also like the 2nd or 3rd largest banking center in the country
mcphage 7y ago
They do display that comparison—that the counties they identify represent 32% of the GDP, but only 22% of the population. Still, they also show that it's been pretty constant, so I don't know if it's a meaningful grouping.
- ghaff 7y ago
  And that delta is cut in about half if you look at share of employment as opposed to total population (which includes retired people, etc.) By the time you take into account commuters from outside the metro county, I wonder how much difference there is at all. And clearly the two numbers have to be highly correlated. Most people live near where their jobs are and the combination of their consumption and the money they're paid are big components of GDP. So while employment concentration and GDP concentration may be interesting, they're pretty much different measures of more or less the same thing.
OnlineGladiator 7y ago
https://xkcd.com/1138/ https://xkcd.com/1138/
madcaptenor 7y ago
On the flip side, the counties containing Orlando and Tampa aren't in the top 31 by GDP although they're in the top 31 by population. Similarly for Nassau and Suffolk counties (Long Island) in New York, I think, although I'm just working from the map in the OP so it's hard to be sure - I guess the money made by people living in those counties gets attributed to jobs in the city.

ghaff 7y ago

Lowe's, Duke Energy... I'd probably have expected Wake County in that general area but that's something of a bias because of tech--and because it's the capital. As the article notes, this isn't purely explained by population--but a lot of it is. It's maybe also worth noting that, for a lot of those metros, a decent chunk of the working population lives far enough outside of the metro area to be in another county. (Some businesses are too of course but probably less than the number of people.)

blaser-waffle 7y ago
I work for an office in the RDU aka the Research Triangle. We're mostly or entirely remote. Lots of long commutes for the people who are obligated to come in. Big names and decent salaries for the COL, though.
non-entity 7y ago
Charlotte is also like the 2nd or 3rd largest banking center in the country

mcphage 7y ago

They do display that comparison—that the counties they identify represent 32% of the GDP, but only 22% of the population. Still, they also show that it's been pretty constant, so I don't know if it's a meaningful grouping.

ghaff 7y ago
And that delta is cut in about half if you look at share of employment as opposed to total population (which includes retired people, etc.) By the time you take into account commuters from outside the metro county, I wonder how much difference there is at all. And clearly the two numbers have to be highly correlated. Most people live near where their jobs are and the combination of their consumption and the money they're paid are big components of GDP. So while employment concentration and GDP concentration may be interesting, they're pretty much different measures of more or less the same thing.

OnlineGladiator 7y ago

https://xkcd.com/1138/ https://xkcd.com/1138/

madcaptenor 7y ago

On the flip side, the counties containing Orlando and Tampa aren't in the top 31 by GDP although they're in the top 31 by population. Similarly for Nassau and Suffolk counties (Long Island) in New York, I think, although I'm just working from the map in the OP so it's hard to be sure - I guess the money made by people living in those counties gets attributed to jobs in the city.