How would the us gdp rank without california or new york?
Executive summary
Removing California from U.S. GDP would shave roughly $4 trillion off a roughly $29 trillion American economy, leaving about $25 trillion; removing both California and New York would cut about $6.3 trillion, leaving roughly $22.7 trillion — sums that, by the standard global comparisons used by economic trackers, would still leave the U.S. as the world’s largest economy, though the gap to the next-largest would narrow [1] [2] [3].
1. How much output do California and New York account for — and what’s left
California is by far the single largest state economy, responsible for about 14.5% of U.S. GDP — roughly $4.1 trillion in recent tallies — while New York contributes about 7.9%, or roughly $2.3 trillion, driven by finance, insurance and services concentrated in New York City [2] [1]. Subtracting California from a U.S. total near $29 trillion produces an approximate national GDP of $24.9–25.0 trillion; subtracting both California and New York produces an approximate remaining U.S. GDP of about $22.6–22.7 trillion [1] [2].
2. What those numbers mean for global ranking
Global GDP rankings are usually reported on a nominal basis and change year to year with exchange rates and revisions, but the established picture is clear: the United States is the world’s largest economy at roughly $28–29 trillion, and even after removing California (bringing it to about $25 trillion) the United States would still exceed other major national economies in nominal terms according to standard country lists used by statisticians and news organizations [4] [5]. Removing both California and New York narrows the gap further — to roughly $22.6–22.7 trillion — but under prevailing estimates this still remains above the next-largest national GDP, meaning the United States would continue to rank first globally, although with a smaller lead [4] [5].
3. State-by-state comparisons illuminate the scale
California on its own has been compared to the world’s largest national economies: recent reporting has placed California’s economy larger than the GDP of many countries and reported that, as a standalone economy, it would be approximately the fifth-largest in the world [2] [3]. New York similarly has been cited among the top dozen global economies in certain years, reflecting the outsized role finance and professional services play in its output [3]. Those comparisons underscore how concentrated U.S. output is: a handful of states produce more than a third of national GDP [2].
4. Caveats, methodology and what changes the answer
Two methodological cautions matter. First, the arithmetic above treats state output as fully subtractable from the national total; official country rankings use national exchange rates and year-specific figures that can shift rankings across revisions, and different sources (IMF, World Bank, BEA, private trackers) publish slightly different numbers [6] [5]. Second, the comparison is nominal GDP; switching to purchasing-power-parity measures or adjusting for per-capita output would change the narrative and relative positions [5]. Finally, headline statements about “where the U.S. would rank without California/New York” depend on which year’s global rankings are used and the timing of revisions to state and country figures [6] [5].
5. The political and rhetorical angle behind these hypotheticals
When analysts or politicians invoke “what if” scenarios that remove big states, the aim is often to illustrate concentration of wealth and influence — or to make a rhetorical point about how vital a single state is to national power [2] [3]. Visualizations that compare states to countries favor dramatic impact but can obscure methodological nuance: state GDPs are embedded in an integrated national economy, not independent sovereign entities subject to exchange rates or separate monetary policy [2] [5]. Readers should therefore treat country-style rank comparisons as attention-grabbing heuristics, not precise predictions of an alternative world order.