Anchor Impacts by State: New Data Set

Posted by Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on December 19, 2023

Examining the economic impact of key sectors of the economy is vital to the Philadelphia Fed’s mission to support a strong and stable economy. Anchor institutions, often called “eds and meds,” not only play a large role in the nation’s economy but also within state economies — as large regional employers, partners in community development, and providers of education and health services.

Recently, the Anchor Economy Initiative completed an analysis of the economic impact of anchor institutions on state economies across the U.S. State-level measures of hospitals and higher education institution impacts are now available for 2019 and 2004, complementing regional-level data available on the Anchor Economy Dashboard.

These data provide policymakers and community leaders and decision makers a robust snapshot of higher education and hospital economic activity, income, and gross value added within each state. The dashboard also provides a reliance index, which shows how dependent each state is on these sectors for total economic output.

View each state’s anchor impact profile here.