Vermont Business Magazine A national rating firm has released growth and investment results for counties across the United States. Chittenden County's GDP growth was highest in Vermont at just under 1 percent. Meanwhile, Los Angeles County ranked higest with 100 percent (doubled its GDP). In a new list of places experiencing the most growth in their local economy released by New York financial technology company SmartAsset, counties were measured by change in the local GDP over a four-year period. Business growth nationally was 0.4 percent.
Top 10 Vermont Counties GDP Growth
| Rank | County | Business Growth | GDP Growth ($ in millions) | New Building Permits (per 1,000 homes) | Municipal Bonds (per capita) | GDP Growth Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chittenden, VT | -0.6% | $357 | 3.6 | $119 | 0.98 |
| 2 | Washington, VT | 0.0% | $146 | 3.8 | $4,362 | 0.40 |
| 3 | Rutland, VT | -2.2% | $143 | 1.4 | $0 | 0.39 |
| 4 | Windsor, VT | -2.2% | $134 | 2.0 | $0 | 0.37 |
| 5 | Windham, VT | -4.4% | $114 | 1.9 | $0 | 0.31 |
| 6 | Bennington, VT | -4.8% | $92 | 2.3 | $0 | 0.25 |
| 7 | Addison, VT | -1.9% | $76 | 4.9 | $0 | 0.21 |
| 8 | Franklin, VT | -1.0% | $66 | 5.9 | $0 | 0.18 |
| 9 | Caledonia, VT | 1.6% | $62 | 2.9 | $0 | 0.17 |
| 10 | Lamoille, VT | -2.8% | $62 | 2.8 | $0 | 0.17 |
Top 10 Vermont Counties Incoming Investment
| Rank | County | Business Growth | GDP Growth ($ in millions) | New Building Permits (per 1,000 homes) | Municipal Bonds (per capita) | Incoming Investment Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington, VT | 0.0% | $146 | 3.8 | $4,362 | 27.10 |
| 2 | Chittenden, VT | -0.6% | $357 | 3.6 | $119 | 25.35 |
| 3 | Franklin, VT | -1.0% | $66 | 5.9 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 4 | Addison, VT | -1.9% | $76 | 4.9 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 5 | Grand Isle, VT | -1.6% | $12 | 3.5 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 6 | Caledonia, VT | 1.6% | $62 | 2.9 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 7 | Lamoille, VT | -2.8% | $62 | 2.8 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 8 | Orleans, VT | -2.4% | $53 | 2.3 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 9 | Orange, VT | -0.5% | $51 | 2.3 | $0 | 0.00 |
| 10 | Bennington, VT | -4.8% | $92 | 2.3 | $0 | 0.00 |
| VT | -1.6% | $98 | 2.9 | $2,241 |
These rankings are part of a broader study on the areas with the most incoming investment in the US.
| Rank | County | Business Growth | GDP Growth ($ in millions) | New Building Permits (per 1,000 homes) | Municipal Bonds (per capita) | GDP Growth Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles, CA | 2.1% | $36,466 | 1.1 | $492 | 100.00 |
| 2 | Harris, TX | 2.4% | $32,368 | 10.5 | $742 | 88.76 |
| 3 | Dallas, TX | 0.6% | $21,297 | 3.8 | $872 | 58.40 |
| 4 | Tarrant, TX | 3.5% | $13,224 | 7.6 | $648 | 36.26 |
| 5 | Orange, CA | 2.1% | $12,911 | 3.5 | $226 | 35.41 |
| 6 | Bexar, TX | 2.9% | $11,547 | 4.6 | $1,100 | 31.67 |
| 7 | San Diego, CA | 2.0% | $11,296 | 2.2 | $560 | 31.00 |
| 8 | Maricopa, AZ | 0.1% | $10,910 | 6.6 | $453 | 29.92 |
| 9 | Cook, IL | 0.7% | $10,495 | 0.6 | $1,424 | 28.78 |
| 10 | Travis, TX | 5.9% | $10,401 | 10.0 | $4,008 | 28.52 |
| Nationwide | 0.4% | $281 | 4.2 | $6,429 |
Methodology
There are several ways individuals, governments and businesses can invest money in a county or region. Our study aims to capture the places across the country that are receiving the most incoming investments in business, real estate, government and the local economy as a whole. To do this we looked at four factors: business establishment growth, GDP growth, new building permits and municipal bond investment.
We looked at the change in the number of businesses established in each location over a 2-year period. This shows whether or not people are starting new business ventures in the county.
The second factor we looked at was the GDP growth. We used real growth (inflation adjusted) in the local economy.
We also looked at investment and development in the local residential real estate market. To measure this real estate growth, we calculated the number of new building permits per 1,000 homes.
The final factor we considered was investment in municipal bonds. We found the average municipal bonds raised by a county over the last five years, which we divided by the. population This gave us a per capita look at investment in local government or agencies.
We scored every county in our study on these four factors, weighting each factor equally. We then combined those scores to create a final ranking of cities. With that ranking, we created an index (a sort of grading on a curve) where the county with the most incoming investments was assigned a value of 100 and the county with the least investment activity received a zero.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns Survey, U.S. Bureau Economic Analysis, U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, Bloomberg
For a view of SmartAsset’s interactive map and full methodology check here: https://smartasset.com/investing/investment-calculator#us/incoming