Michigan vs Ohio: two economies side by side

Michigan and Ohio share a border. Here are the two economies on the same measures, with the rank of each among 51 states and DC.

Great LakesMichigan leads on 1, Ohio on 10 of 11 measures

Indicator	A · MI	B · OH	Ranks
GDP, 2025	$733.9B	$976.9B	14 · 7
Real GDP growth, 2025	+2.2%	+2.4%	20 · 17
Real growth a year since 2015	+1.6%	+1.5%	32 · 33
GDP per person	$72,462	$82,087	40 · 26
Income per person, 2025	$67,245	$67,584	39 · 37
Real income per person (2017 $)	$53,569	$56,232	41 · 34
Price level (US = 100)	96.2	92.8	28 · 35
Housing costs (US = 100)	82.3	73.0	29 · 38
Unemployment, September 2026	5.0%	3.4%	47 · 16
Population	10,127,884	11,900,510	10 · 7
Population growth a year since 2020	+0.11%	+0.17%	41 · 38

Highlighted: the higher value, or the lower one for prices and unemployment. BEA (GDP, income, price parities), BLS (unemployment).

Fig. 1Real GDP, index 2015 = 100Chained 2017 dollars

MichiganOhio

Fig. 2Unemployment rateMonthly, seasonally adjusted, since 2015

MichiganOhio

Industry mix, 2025

Share of each state’s GDP. Sorted by the gap between the two.

Industry	MI	OH	Gap, pp	Larger in
Finance & insurance	5.8%	13.3%	7.5	OH
Professional services	7.9%	5.5%	2.4	MI
Manufacturing	15.4%	13.6%	1.8	MI
Real estate	13.7%	12.2%	1.5	MI
Wholesale trade	7.6%	6.4%	1.2	MI
Management of companies	1.8%	2.9%	1.1	OH
Retail trade	6.7%	5.9%	0.8	MI
Accommodation & food	2.9%	2.5%	0.4	MI
Transportation & warehousing	2.9%	3.2%	0.3	OH
Other services	2.4%	2.1%	0.3	MI
Utilities	1.9%	1.7%	0.2	MI
Information	2.8%	2.6%	0.2	MI
Administrative & waste services	3.0%	2.8%	0.2	MI
Mining, oil & gas	0.2%	0.3%	0.1	OH
Agriculture	0.8%	0.7%	0.1	MI
Education	0.7%	0.8%	0.1	OH
Health care	8.4%	8.5%	0.1	OH
Arts & recreation	0.9%	0.9%	0.0
Government	10.0%	10.0%	0.0
Construction	4.2%	4.2%	0.0