Markets

Animation: Re-sizing U.S. Counties Based on Local Economies

Published

7 years ago

February 15, 2016

Jeff Desjardins

On a global level, the World Bank estimates that although only 54% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, more than 80% of all economic production happens in cities.

Urban areas provide a combination of network effects and economies of scale that are referred to as “economies of agglomeration”. That’s why countries around the world rely on cities as engines of growth, and the United States is no exception.

Today’s map animation comes to us from Max Galka’s Metrocosm blog, and it helps us to visualize the economic impact of metropolitan areas in the United States. The animation uses a map known as a cartogram which distorts the size of each county based on its relative economic contribution to GDP.

U.S. Map Re-sized Based on Local GDP Contributions

US GDP Cartogram

Galka also provided a static version of the cartogram which highlights the top 10 metro area economies.

Greater New York City is the heavy-hitter here with a $1.5 trillion GDP, which is about the same size as the greater areas of Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. combined.

US GDP Cartogram Static

Lastly, for a different perspective on this same data on GDP by county, it may be worth taking a look at a previous post where we included a stunning 3D map that shows economic contribution by city.

Related Topics:GDP data visualization united states map county economy cartogram local

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Agriculture

Charted: U.S. Egg Prices More Than Double in 2022

This chart shows the increase in the national average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in the U.S. in 2022.

Creator Program

Published

2 days ago

January 31, 2023

Pallavi Rao

This chart shows the increase in the national average price of a dozen grade-A eggs in the U.S. in 2022.

Charted: U.S. Egg Prices Double in 2022

Eggs are a staple food for many countries around the world, and the U.S. is no exception. Americans eat between 250‒280 eggs a year on average.

Eggs are also easy to cook, protein-dense and supply many daily vitamins needed for healthy living, making them a popular meal or ingredient. So when egg prices rise, people notice.

MetalytIQ charted the rapid rise of egg prices in the U.S. during 2022, using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS).

Eggs-asperating Prices

Over the course of 12 months, the national average price for a dozen large Grade A eggs more than doubled, to $4.25 in December from $1.93 in January.

Egg Prices Per Month (2022)	Price per dozen
January	$1.30
February	$2.10
March	$2.50
April	$2.52
May	$2.86
June	$2.71
July	$2.94
August	$3.12
September	$2.90
October	$3.42
November	$3.59
December	$4.25

The biggest culprit has been an avian flu outbreak that resulted in 43 million chickens culled to prevent the spread of the disease.

This led to a severe shortfall in egg supply. Egg inventories in December had fallen by one-third compared to January. Combined with increasing demand during the holiday season, prices skyrocketed and empty shelves became apparent in some states.

This is not the first time avian flu has disrupted the industry.. In 2015, a similar outbreak pushed egg prices up 40% in nine months, reaching a high of $2.97 per dozen eggs in September 2015.

Will Egg Prices Drop in 2023?

Avian flu isn’t the only storm the egg industry has been facing in 2022.

The prices of soybean and corn—the main components of bird feed—account for half of the cost of eggs. They’ve been heavily affected by the war in Ukraine, which has driven grain prices higher.

In the near-term, egg prices are expected to remain high. Containing the avian flu outbreak will remain the biggest factor in determining the prices, but as suppliers increase production, prices may cool off a little in 2023.

Eggs and dairy make up nearly 10% of the average person’s daily calorie intake. Check out the rest of our dietary make-up in Visualizing a Rapidly Changing Global Diet.