Today's earlier blog post on the new GDP data by metro area (and tomorrow's story for the print edition) focuses on real GDP growth in absolute terms.

Per capita GDP data by metro area was also released today, and it's worth throwing up another chart here.

The Twin Cities show up well in these rankings, but not as well as some of the smaller metros in the Midwest. Here are the top 25 in the Midwest -- which I define broadly as Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota:

And here are the trend lines since 2001 for the top 10. Lots of movement over that period, with huge progress from Cedar Rapids, Sioux Falls and Fargo. You can also see that Elkhart, Ind., really struggled during the recession but has bounced back nicely: