Sometimes it helps to take an unorthodox perspective when thinking about the size of things.
So here's an awesome map from the cost-estimating website Fixr that illustrates the scale of each state's GDP and GDP per capita. It resizes each state proportionally to its real gross domestic product for 2014. Additionally, each state is colored with a shade of green that reflects its real GDP per capita.
Real GDP ranged from California's $2.11 trillion to Vermont's $27.2 billion, while real GDP per capita ranged from Alaska's $66,160 to Mississippi's $32,551. DC trumped all the states in GDP per capita with a massive $175,253.
"Interestingly, both the highest and the lowest states in terms of GDP per capita experienced negative GDP growth rates in 2014," according to Fixr. "This goes to show that a state's economic circumstances can quickly change."
It's also worth noting that there isn't necessarily a correlation between large GDPs and large GDPs per capita. For example, North Dakota has a relatively small GDP, but has a high GDP per capita, while Florida has a relatively large GDP, but small GDP per capita.
FIXR.com