America's Big Cities in Volatile Times

Note: For our latest research on this topic, see Recovering from Volatile Times.

American cities have an outsized impact on the economies and long-term prosperity of states and the nation. These 30 cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas account for 49 percent of the nation’s total gross domestic product and are home to more than 1 in 10 Americans. This interactive presents information on the fiscal conditions of each of those cities over the economically volatile years of 2007 through 2011, the period before, during, and immediately after the Great Recession.