For shame to those in the upper crust of New York's income levels! There are only 62,773 of you in New York County, ranking you 13th on a list ranking the country's millionaires. A study by TNS Financial Services tallied up the most households with a net worth of over $1 million in counties across the country. Ranking waaaay at the top of the list is Los Angeles County with 262,800 millionaires and Cook County, where Chicago is located, with 167,873 households. Perhaps our fair city would do better if primary residences were included in net worth and if the five boroughs were combined. Then again, looking at that list, we're sure all the primary residences are ridiculously expensive.
The study puts the number of millionaires in the United States at an all time high in 2005 at 8.9 million people - there were a mere 8.7 million households that wealthy last year. Not to be left out, Nassau and Suffolk Counties join New York County on the list with 78,816 and 66,683 millionaires respectively. A representative of TNS said that in large counties millionaires usually account for 1 in 12 or 8.5% of households. But if you want to be a millionaire like everyone else, Nassau County is the way to go. There, 17.5% of households are worth more than $1 million.
The average net worth of the households, according to the study, was $2.2 million with $1.4 million in liquid assets. That's not even including their retirement funds! It upsets Gothamist a little that, after excluding our primary residence and retirement, our net worth is pretty much the balance of our checking account. Time to go play the lotto, perfect for poor schlubs like us.
