Real GDP in Rochester increased 0.6 percent in 2014, to $10.56 billion, according to new statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
That made it the 189th largest economy in the nation out of 381 metropolitan areas. In Minnesota, it trailed only Minneapolis St. Paul, the 14th largest, and Duluth, the 175th largest.
GDP -- gross domestic product -- is the sum of all the goods and services produced in the area, which consists of Dodge, Fillmore, Olmsted and Wabasha counties.
However, Rochester's growth lagged somewhat. Overall, the nation's metropolitan areas grew 2.3 percent. The upper Midwest had several metros that grew faster than Rochester: Fargo at 3.9 percent; Eau Claire, Wis., at 3.4 percent, Minneapolis-St. Paul t 2 percent, and St. Cloud at 1.4 percent.
According to a separate release from the U.S. Census, the Rochester metropolitan area's Income remained strong as well in 2014. Rochester's median household income was $66,214, up from $62,645 in 2013, and well above the statewide median of $61,481.
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However, just as in Minnesota overall, black households in Rochester have a much lower median income: $28,769, compared to $68,154 for white households. Statewide, the gap was $27,026 for black households and $64,281 for white households.
According to the GDP statistics from the BEA, Rochester's growth was led by a 4.5 percent increase in professional and business services; a 3.7 percent increase in educational services, health care and social assistance; and a 3.1 percent increase in arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services.
However, construction dropped 0.9 percent; manufacturing dropped 5.1 percent; wholesale trade dropped 12.2 percent; finance insurance and leasing was down 3 percent; and real estate and rental and leasing were down 3 percent.
Nationally, real GDP increased in 282 of the country's 381 metropolitan areas, led by growth in professional and business services, wholesale and retail trade, and the group of finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing.
