9 of the 10 least productive states are Republican; 7 of the 10 most productive states are Democratic.

There’s an objective way to measure how productive a population is: GDP per capita.

So using the Bureau of Economic Analysis 2022 GDP per capita by state data accessed via USAFacts.org [specific link here], here’s what I found:

Of the 10 states with the lowest GDP per capita–that is, the least productive Americans–9 are overwhelmingly Republican-run.

Then of the 10 states with the most productive Americans–that is, of the 10 states with the highest GDP per capita–7 are run by Democrats. Notably, the only highly productive Republican states are petro-states riding commodity booms, not actually producing sustainable value. North Dakota, Alaska and Wyoming are basically Saudi Arabias and Nigerias–uneducated but just blessed with oil in their soil. As soon as gas prices fall, these “productive” Republican states will be in the bottom 10 list.

Note how the 4 of the top 5 most productive states are the most overwhelmingly liberal–and educated. That’s no coincidence.