Lee County is attracting some of highest dollar investments in Florida, according to a study by online financial advisor SmartAsset.
According to the study on the places with the highest GDP growth, Lee County ranks No. 8 among Florida counties based on business establishment growth, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and new building permits.
Here's what to know:
- What is GDP? It's a measure of the size of an economy. It is calculated as thevalueof all goods and services produced. Consumer spending is the largest contributor to GDP.
- The study compared three years of metrics, including GDP.
- The study looked at the change in the number of businesses established in each location over a 3-year period. This shows whether or not people are starting new business ventures in the county.
- The study also looked at investment and development in the local residential real-estate market. To measure real-estate growth, SmartAsset calculated the number of new building permits per 1,000 homes.
Lee County's business growth actually fell almost 1 percent; it was the only county with a decline in this category in the top 10 list from SmartAsset.
New building permits were the highest in the list, at 29.09 per 1,000 homes.
The study showed Lee County 79th nationally based on the three metrics.
The top three counties nationally are Los Angeles; Harris, TX; and Cook, IL., in that order. Miami-Dade ranked No. 9, nationally and at the top in Florida.
Who was No. 1 in Florida?
Miami-Dade County was No. 1 in the study, followed by Broward County – the two largest counties by population in the state. Palm Beach County was No. 3 and is the fourth most populated county.
Lee County's ranking matched its ranking in population - at No. 8, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. There are 67 counties in the state.
"These are interesting metric," said Amir B. Ferreira Neto, PhD, and director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University's Lutgert College of Business. "Permits is a good leading indicator and GDP growth a good lagging indicator. Business Growth can work both as leading or lagging indicator depending on the context. With that said, they help paint the picture of growth that has happened and is expected to happen in the region."
It's hard to tell exactly what SmartAsset is reporting as far as GDP growth, Neto said.
Neto looked at one of the sources, Bureau of Economic Analysis, to give some context and percentage changes.
Based on this numbers the Real GDP growth 2021-2022 for Lee is4.75% and Florida is 4.6% (4.98% for 2023-2022 period).
"Florida is one of the fastest growing parts of the country and so is SWFL," Neto said. "This is mainly driven by the migration, especially accelerated from the Covid-19 pandemic, bringing people and businesses here. However, we are seeing some signs of the economy slowing down locally."
Why is GDP important?
GPD is considered the single-best indicator of economic growth. The U.S. GDP enables policymakers andcentral banksto judge whether the economy is contracting or expanding and whether it needs a boost interest rate it or needs to be restrained.
"Because GDP data lags several years for smaller geographic regions like counties, I like to use the Taxable Sales as a proxy," Neto said.
Real taxable sales decline
A May 16 summary on Regional Economic Research Institute's dashboard says, "seasonally adjusted real taxable sales for Southwest Florida totaled $3.043 billion in March 2024, a decline of 7 percent from March 2023 but 1 percent over the February 2024 measure."
Lee County’s seasonally adjusted real taxable sales were $1.608 billion in March 2024, down 7 percent from March 2023 and 1 percent under the prior month.
What about Collier County?
At the 19th most populous county in Florida, Collier County ranked No. 13 in Florida, according to SmartAsset's criteria.
The county's business growth was 19.74%. New building permits were 14.04 per thousand homes. Real GDP Growth, according to Neto's calculations is 3.8% for 2021-2022.
That put Collier at 136 in the national rankings.
Collier County's seasonally adjusted real taxable sales were $1.018 billion in March 2024, 8 percent below March 2023 and up 1 percent from February 2024.
More:This Southwest Florida city ranks as one of the best in U.S. to start small business
More:Cape Coral scrubs new car washes, storage units for remainder of year
More:Cape Coral growth mushrooming. Here are 11 game-changing developments coming to the city.
