Executive Summary

In this report we examine the relationship between various well-being measures and GDP per capita for the 50 United States and the 10 Canadian provinces. We found higher GDP per capita to be associated with improvements in multiple dimensions of well-being: higher disposable income, employment, and internet access rates; lower poverty, unemployment, homicide, and perception-of-government-corruption rates. We also found higher GDP per capita to be associated with higher levels of air pollution, although the relationship is weak. Several measures of well-being had no apparent relationship with GDP per capita: life satisfaction, voter turnout, the share of the labour force with at least secondary education, and social network support. Finally, several well-being measures exhibited a more complicated relationship with GDP per capita: life expectancy, which increased with GDP per capita in the USA but not in Canada, and income inequality, which exhibited a U-shaped relationship with GDP per capita in the USA and had no clear relationship with GDP per capita in Canada. On balance, the majority of well-being measures either improved or stayed the same with increased GDP per capita, with the exception of air pollution. The relationship between each dimension of well-being and GDP per capita is visualized in the Figures section below.

Figures

Methodological notes

All data presented in this report is from the OECD Regional Database.

Each dimension of well-being vs. GDP per capita is visualized in a bubble chart with one bubble for each state/province. Bubbles are colored by country and have an area proportional to the population of the corresponding state/province.

Each plot also contains a line¹ illustrating the relationship between the mean of the well-being measure and GDP per capita. Lines are colored by country. The shaded area around each line illustrate the 95% confidence interval for the mean.

Air pollution, level of PM2.5

The term fine particles, or particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), refers to tiny particles or droplets in the air that are two and one half microns or less in width. This air pollutant is a concern for people’s health when levels in air are high. See the New York State Department of Health for more information.

Disposable income per capita

Employment rate

Gini (at disposable income, after taxes and transfers)

The Gini coefficient measures income inequality and varies between 0 and 1, with 0 indicating perfect equality (everyone has the same income) and 1 indicating perfect inequality (a single individual makes all of the income).

Gini before taxes and transfers

Homicide rate

Life expectancy at birth

Number of rooms per person

The average number of rooms per person in occupied dwellings.

Perception of corruption

The percentage of people that replied “Yes” with respect to all respondents to the following question: Is corruption widespread throughout the government in this country, or not?

Poverty rate after taxes and transfers, Poverty line 50%

The percentage of people with a disposable income below the poverty line, defined as 50% of the national median disposable income.

Poverty rate after taxes and transfers, Poverty line 60%

The percentage of people with a disposable income below the poverty line, defined as 60% of the national median disposable income.

Poverty rate before taxes and transfers, Poverty line 50%

The percentage of people with a market income below the poverty line, defined as 50% of the national median market income.

Poverty rate before taxes and transfers, Poverty line 60%

The percentage of people with a market income below the poverty line, defined as 60% of the national median market income.

S80/S20 disposable income quintile ratio

The ratio between the average income of the top quntile and the average income of the bottom quntile of the disposable income distribution.

Self-evaluation of life satisfaction

Self-rated general satisfaction with life on a scale of 0 to 10.

Standardised mortality rate

Standardised (age-adjusted) mortality rates eliminate the difference in mortality rates due to a population’s age profile and are comparable across countries and regions. Age-adjusted mortality rates are calculated by applying the age-specific death rates of one region to the age distribution of a standard population. In this case, the population by five years age class, averaged over all OECD regions.

Unemployment rate

Voter turnout in general election

Voter turnout is defined as the ratio between the number of voters to the number of persons with voting rights. The last national election is considered.

Relationships were estimated using a generalized additive model (GAM) with a beta- or gamma-distributed response, as appropriate. Note that the data points were weighted by population when fitting regression models. This implies that the resultant trend line will not necessarily pass through the center of the points, but instead will be pulled toward larger points with greater population.↩︎

Well-being vs. GDP Per Capita