The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released sweeping new state-level economic data showing that consumer spending grew across nearly the entire country in 2024, with Massachusetts leading the pack at 5.3 percent growth in real personal consumption expenditures.
Real PCE nationally rose 2.9 percent for the year. Massachusetts benefited from strong current-dollar spending growth of 6.1 percent paired with modest price increases, while the District of Columbia came in second at 4.6 percent. Montana was the lone notable laggard, posting a slight decline of 0.2 percent — largely because its regional price inflation of 6.7 percent outpaced its nominal spending growth.
On the income side, California topped all states with a 5.5 percent increase in real personal income, followed by Washington at 5.0 percent. Both states saw current-dollar income rise faster than their regional price levels. North Dakota fared worst, with real personal income falling 2.2 percent as modest nominal income growth of just 1.2 percent was erased by a 3.5 percent rise in regional prices.
The data underscores the uneven nature of the economic expansion. States with large technology and professional services sectors tended to outperform, while some agricultural and resource-dependent states saw price pressures eat into real gains. Regional price parities — which capture cost-of-living differences across states — remained a key driver of the divergence, with housing rents often accounting for the largest variation between high-cost and low-cost states.
For consumers and investors, the takeaway is that headline national figures can mask sharp geographic differences. A nearly 3 percent rise in real spending nationwide signals a resilient consumer, but pockets of the country are clearly feeling more strain from inflation than others.
