NC:TN=COMPARE("NC", "TN")
North Carolina vs Tennessee: two economies side by side
North Carolina and Tennessee share a border. Here are the two economies on the same measures, with the rank of each among 51 states and DC.
SoutheastNorth Carolina leads on 3, Tennessee on 7 of 11 measures
| Indicator | A · NC | B · TN | Ranks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP, 2025 | $895.9B | $586.2B | 9 · 16 | ||
| Real GDP growth, 2025 | +1.8% | +2.1% | 30 · 21 | ||
| Real growth a year since 2015 | +2.7% | +2.9% | 15 · 11 | ||
| GDP per person | $80,007 | $80,137 | 31 · 30 | ||
| Income per person, 2025 | $68,274 | $69,274 | 36 · 32 | ||
| Real income per person (2017 $) | $56,310 | $58,582 | 33 · 25 | ||
| Price level (US = 100) | 94.3 | 91.9 | 31 · 38 | ||
| Housing costs (US = 100) | 81.4 | 79.1 | 30 · 33 | ||
| Unemployment, September 2026 | 3.4% | 3.4% | 15 · 17 | ||
| Population | 11,197,968 | 7,315,076 | 9 · 15 | ||
| Population growth a year since 2020 | +1.4% | +1.1% | 6 · 9 |
Highlighted: the higher value, or the lower one for prices and unemployment. BEA (GDP, income, price parities), BLS (unemployment).
North CarolinaTennessee
North CarolinaTennessee
Industry mix, 2025
Share of each state’s GDP. Sorted by the gap between the two.
| Industry | NC | TN | Gap, pp | Larger in | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance & insurance | 10.9% | 6.4% | 4.5 | NC | |
| Health care | 6.7% | 9.2% | 2.4 | TN | |
| Transportation & warehousing | 2.5% | 4.6% | 2.1 | TN | |
| Government | 11.3% | 9.8% | 1.5 | NC | |
| Wholesale trade | 5.9% | 7.4% | 1.5 | TN | |
| Accommodation & food | 3.0% | 4.3% | 1.3 | TN | |
| Arts & recreation | 0.8% | 2.0% | 1.2 | TN | |
| Retail trade | 6.0% | 7.2% | 1.2 | TN | |
| Manufacturing | 12.4% | 11.6% | 0.8 | NC | |
| Professional services | 7.3% | 6.4% | 0.8 | NC | |
| Construction | 4.8% | 4.1% | 0.6 | NC | |
| Information | 4.3% | 3.8% | 0.5 | NC | |
| Utilities | 1.7% | 1.3% | 0.5 | NC | |
| Management of companies | 2.0% | 1.6% | 0.4 | NC | |
| Other services | 2.1% | 2.4% | 0.3 | TN | |
| Agriculture | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.3 | NC | |
| Education | 1.3% | 1.0% | 0.3 | NC | |
| Mining, oil & gas | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.1 | TN | |
| Administrative & waste services | 3.5% | 3.6% | 0.1 | TN | |
| Real estate | 12.7% | 12.6% | 0.0 |
Real GDP growth 2025, %
−1.0%+5.1%
AL+2.0%AK+4.7%AZ+1.5%AR+0.9%CA+3.5%CO+1.9%CT+2.5%DE+5.1%DC−1.0%FL+2.8%GA+2.9%HI+1.5%ID+3.1%IL+2.6%IN+1.9%IA−0.4%KS+1.0%KY+3.0%LA+1.5%ME+1.4%MD+0.8%MA+1.3%MI+2.2%MN+0.7%MS+1.3%MO+1.2%MT+2.0%NE+1.3%NV+2.0%NH+1.7%NJ+2.0%NM+1.8%NY+2.5%NC+1.8%ND+0.5%OH+2.4%OK+2.2%OR+1.4%PA+1.8%RI+2.8%SC+3.3%SD+1.8%TN+2.1%TX+2.8%UT+2.7%VT+1.9%VA+2.3%WA+3.2%WV+2.8%WI+0.8%WY+0.1%