California boasts a strong economy. See how it compares to the rest of the country

California’s economy was ranked among the strongest in the nation in a recent survey conducted by financial assistance website WalletHub.

In a survey of all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., the Golden State’s economy ranked No. 4 overall, coming behind Washington state, Utah and Massachusetts, respectively.

The three worst ranking states were Alaska (No. 51), Louisiana (No. 50) and Mississippi (No. 49).

WalletHub rates the states in three different categories: Economic activity, economic health and innovation potential.

Economic activity factors included GDP growth, exports per capita and startup activity.

Economic health factors included unemployment rate, median household income and the share of population in poverty.

Innovation potential included the share of jobs in high-tech industries, the share of STEM employment and the amount of entrepreneurial activity.

California ranked No. 3 for economic activity, No. 35 for economic health and No. 3 for innovation potential. The state also ranked No. 5 overall for most high-tech jobs and tied for first, with Massachusetts, Washington and Oregon, for most inventor patents per 1,000 working-age population.

Other areas where California excelled include GDP growth (No. 6), startup activity (No. 6) and government surplus and deficit per capita (No. 6).

The state scored less well when it came to income when adjusted for cost of living: California ranked 47th in the nation for median annual household income, which in 2017 was $67,169, according to the U.S. Census.

The state also has an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s higher than the national average of 3.8 percent.

This story was originally published June 3, 2019 at 12:32 PM with the headline "California boasts a strong economy. See how it compares to the rest of the country."