The 'Richest' U.S. City Probably Isn't Where You Think It Is It's not located in New York or California.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- There are millions of millionaires across the U.S.
- But other wealth indicators can factor into the "rich" equation.
There are more than five million millionaires in the U.S. Where do most of them live?
If your mind goes to major metropolises like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago or Houston, you're on the right track: All of the above boast high numbers of millionaire households.
However, wealth can be measured in different ways, and when considering the percentage of millionaire households relative to a city's total population—along with other key wealth indicators—the "richest" U.S. cities might not be where you'd expect.
Related: Young and Wealthy Professionals Are Moving to These 10 States, According to a New Report
Property management company Evernest examined personal income, cost of living, homeownership rate, percentage of households with $1 million-plus investable assets by state and median household income by state across 45 U.S. cities to determine the wealthiest ones.
Through weighted and normalized indicators, the study produced an overall richness index indicator and final index score that ranked the cities from richest to least wealthy.*
The analysis revealed Baltimore, Maryland, as the "richest" city in the U.S. Baltimore has the highest rate of households with more than $1 million in investable assets at 9.92% and the highest median household income by state at $97,501.
Image Credit: Kruck20 | Getty Images. Baltimore, Maryland.
Boston, Massachusetts and Newark, New Jersey took the second and third spots, respectively. Boston's percentage of households with more than $1 million in investable assets stands at 9.6%, and Newark's at 9.89%. Both cities' median household incomes come in just below $97,000.
Minneapolis, Minnesota and Anchorage, Alaska, have the highest homeownership rates, at 74% and 67.2%, respectively.
Check out Evernest's full list of findings on the "richest" U.S. cities below:
| City | Population | % of Households with $1M+ Investible Assets | Homeownership Rate | Median Household Income by State | Index |
| Baltimore | 569K | 9.92 | 47.8% | $97,501 | 0.87 |
| Boston | 650K | 9.60 | 35.0% | $96,898 | 0.86 |
| Newark | 305K | 9.89 | 24.0% | $96,521 | 0.84 |
| Honolulu | 343K | 9.48 | 51.0% | $91,723 | 0.81 |
| Virginia Beach | 455K | 8.55 | 64.6% | $87,514 | 0.77 |
| Anchorage | 287K | 8.74 | 67.2% | $84,144 | 0.76 |
| Los Angeles | 3.8M | 8.76 | 36.6% | $91,777 | 0.74 |
| Seattle | 749K | 8.02 | 61.5% | $91,063 | 0.72 |
| Denver | 713K | 7.96 | 62.7% | $88,909 | 0.67 |
| Minneapolis | 425K | 7.57 | 74.0% | $84,009 | 0.63 |
*These indicators were normalized to ensure comparability across cities, with values like personal income and cost of living adjusted based on the minimum and maximum values. The data was then min-max scaled between 0 and 1, with 0 representing the lowest and 1 the highest values within the dataset.
