How it’s possible Mississippi and other states that Americans perceive as very poor have a higher GDP per capita than countries we perceive as rich like France

Question

US States by GDP per capita: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_GDP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_GDP)

Countries by GDP per capita: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)_per_capita)

In: 322

Answer 1

Alongside the other reasons listed (in particular that, by PPP, France is substantially higher GPD per capita than Mississippi), Mississippi’s GDP is only around $105 billion and yet it receives around $20 billion a year in NET federal funding, ie: funding minus the amount the state contributes.

That’s an absolutely huge amount of money flowing into the state, contributing both directly and indirectly to the GDP. If you removed that money, Mississippi’s GDP per capita would collapse. France, on the other hand, is a net contributor to the EU.