MHYP News

Colorado comes out on top in a Business Insider ranking of the nation's top economies.

The national business and technology news website said it evaluated each state on eight measures, including unemployment, the number of non-farm payroll jobs, gross domestic product, average wages, the working age (18-64) population, value of international exports, house prices and auto sales. ( Methodology details here.)

Colorado "was in the top 10 states on five of our metrics, and in the top 15 on the other three," Business Insider said. It said the local economy is "highly diversified, and it especially boasts a strong aerospace sector and a huge amount of federal investment."

It noted a 2.8 percent growth in payroll jobs in the state over the 12 months ending in June, and a 3.8 percent growth in state gross domestic product last year.

All in all, said Business Insider, "Colorado's economy is broadly growing at a healthy clip, and so it comes in as the overall winner."

California came in at No. 2, followed by Texas, Arizona and Utah.

Alaska held down the bottom spot in the ranking, with Business Insider noting the depletion of the state's oil deposits, followed by Vermont and New Mexico.