US States With the Most Millionaires 2011 - CNBC
Each year, Phoenix Marketing International analyzes national data on millionaire households to reveal which U.S. states attract the most high-income families. This information is being published first on CNBC.com.
The overall number of millionaire households in the U.S. has increased nationwide for the second time in two years. In 2011, there were 5.94 million millionaire households, compared with 5.56 million households a year earlier, an increase of approximately 6.8 percent. Nearly every U.S. state saw an increase its total number of millionaires, adding thousands of households to millionaire status, according to the new numbers from Phoenix Marketing.
The study defines millionaire households as those with $1 million or more in investable or liquid assets (excluding sponsored retirement plans and real estate). Overall, 5.08 percent of U.S. households claim millionaire status, up from last year but still short of the 2007 high of 5.25 percent.
David Thompson, managing director of Phoenix Marketing, notes that “this is the closest it’s ever been between the top two states,” adding that “all of the top 10 states increased their millionaire ratios during the past year, which underscores that the richest states keep getting richer.”
In past reports, Thompson has noted that “small states with large concentrations of highly educated professionals and business owners are key ingredients to growing wealth,” and that states with a large proportion of millionaires tend to share these characteristics.