CommSec's quarterly State of the States report has again ranked New South Wales number one.
The ACT rose to second place, moving ahead of Victoria, ranked third.
All states and territories were assessed on eight indicators:
- economic growth
- retail spending
- business investment
- unemployment
- construction work done
- population growth
- housing finance
- and dwelling commencements.
The report also took into account economic momentum and growth.
And New South Wales was comfortably the best performer.
"Population growth has been picking up and that's creating demands for homes, and those homes are now being built," CommSec's chief economist Craig James said.
"That's creating momentum across the broader economy. New South Wales ranks first, second or third across the eight indicators that we look at."
There is a significant gap between New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria and the rest of the states and territories.
The gap exists for the same reason that New South Wales is ranked number one.
"I think we can put it down to population growth," Mr James said.
"We know that New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT are leading the way in terms of population growth across the nation, the demand for housing, and the momentum that it provides."
Western Australia's annual growth rates were below the national average in all eight indicators.
The end of the mining boom has hit the west hard, bringing to an end a strong period.
But their numbers need to be viewed with a dose of perspective.
"This was the biggest mining construction boom that we've seen in a hundred years," Mr James said.
"It really lit a fire under the Western Australian economy from 2011 through to 2014. Western Australia was number one on our State of the States report for 14 straight quarters."
It's not all doom and gloom for the states and territories that didn't perform so well.
Mr James forecast improvement across the board for the next quarter.
"I think we're going to see an improvement in the jobs market," he said.
"If the job market picks up across a number of the states, it leads to stronger growth in retail spending and leads to stronger performances as well.
"I think more broadly for the Australian economy, growth rates that are at two, to two-and-a-half per cent, will move up to two-and-a-half to three per cent as we move into the second half of the year."
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