Metro Areas with most millionaires

Largely correlated with population ranking. Go figure.

Interesting that they exclude primary residence from the calculation

Also, strong correlation to number of illegal immigrants in each locale.

"Largely correlated with population ranking. Go figure."

Not really. LA's Metropolitan Area has only about 3-4M less people than NYC's yet NYC has like 3X more millionaires.

ranking

Actually, by most measures the "Greater San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose" metro area is ONE area. Its sometimes divided in two, but in terms of land area, its the same or actually a bit smaller than the NYC metro area as deffined by Cap Gem - and thus the two combined are more analagous. With 11% of the toal for just 5MM, they crush NYC with 4.6% of the total and triple the population.

...which is why real estate in SF or Silicon Valley now (for buying) is even WORSE than the bay area. On cost of living calculators now, moving to SF from Manhattan (not NYC - Kings County only) you need to get a slight RAISE to make the same. This was NEVER true in my lifetime. The Bay Area, especially the pennisula from SF to San Jose, is actually more expensive to live in than Manhattan.

I know all this because I am from there and headhunters call me to move back all the time.

"HNWIs are defined as those having investable assets of $1 million or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables, and consumer durables"

Their methods or lack of mention of methods to derive this info is suspect.
So they have a source that shows a Goldman Sachs fund for 1.2mil, but did they catch a 700K outstanding loan? etc.

Jason - Kings County is Brooklyn

I just wish the San Fran - Oakland - San Jose area had a mediterranean climate. I wouldn't care about it being more expensive than NYC.

This is a consulting firm for financial advisers, not for political decisionmakers. They define "high net worth" as "investable assets of over $1m", which may or may not mean high net worth in the ordinary sense.

This definition seeks to identify "potential customers" rather than "wealthy households."

For example, a property owner with a primary residence worth $2m, a mortgage of $3m and investable assets of $1m would count as "high net worth" for their purposes -- a financial adviser would see a $1m account, worth paying attention. More conventional definitions, which use "net" to mean "net" rather than "gross," would put this person's net worth at zero, i.e., about the 40th percentile of Americans.

For more accurate numbers regarding US distribution of wealth, google Prof. Edward Wolff (NYU).

Jason you're such a typical San Franciscan. They have such an intense inferiority complex with New York and it amuses me to no end.

You are also a geographic and numerical illiterate.

And no, adding on San Jose with San Francisco wouldn't "blow out" anything. As a matter fact, combining San Jose and San Francisco's millionaire count and weighing it against it's adult population (the numbers are on that link) puts that region in a dead heat with the New York City MSA (4.67%)

One problem though. You're handicapping New York City MSA by comparing San Francisco's combined statistical area (the "Bay Area") to New York's MSA which excludes Fairfield County. If you want to compare San Francisco's CSA (which includes San Jose aka the Bay Area), you'd have to compare it to New York City's CSA (aka Tri-State) which includes the nations richest MSA -- the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA which technically is more integrated with New York City than San Jose is according to commuting patterns which can easily be accessed by the Census Community Survey 2008-2009.

According to Klipingers, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA is far richer than San Jose MSA and boasts a HNWI population of something huge like 10%. Tallying up New York's complete metro would actually produce a real blowout -- but in New York metro's favor. There is simply no comparison to NYC region in the wealth department in the world.

Hope I didn't ruin your day.

*The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA which technically is more integrated with New York City than San Jose is with San Francisco according to commuting patterns.

Yes but the NY MSA includes Wayne, NJ which could count for over 75% of the millionaire population

I was raised right outside of SJ and its true that San Franciscans latch onto San Jose's Silicon Valley for relevance. Mostly for NYers to notice them.

I mean, every time I see some obscure list with San Jose separated from San Francisco you better believe it's going down! I've never seen the same reaction of the separation of Hedge Fund corridor up in Fairfield and NYC in terms of these lists. Most people couldn't give a crap.

This always makes me laugh:

"Though it is exceptionally easy to put someone from San Francisco in a good mood, there are some caveats. When talking to a white person who lives in San Francisco, it is best not to bring up New York City. Though they live in a world class city, San Franciscans have a crippling inferiority complex about New York and even hinting at that will make them very sad or very defensive."

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/23/91-san-francisco/

SF more expensive than NYC? LOL. As someone who has lived on the Peninsula, has lived in the burbs and now lives in Manhattan I can confidently say that you have no idea what you're talking about. Taxes? Heating costs? Transportation?

According to Wells Fargo's Cost of Living Index, New York (Manhattan) AND the New York metro are pegged as having the highest costs of living in the United States.

http://www.stlrcga.org/x436.xml

San Francisco proper is about 30% cheaper than Manhattan. Median rent is far higher in Manhattan. Median purchase price is far higher in Manhattan. Food is more expensive. Transportation is more expensive. Utility costs are higher. San Francisco is a straight up bargain, IMO.

>Yes but the NY MSA includes Wayne, NJ

I love San Francisco. I'm there about 6 times a year. Then of course I come home to NY. But while I'm there, the police remind me of Dragnet. The trolley cars are like big toys. There's Alcatraz too. What else is there? Eh, not much really, a lot of homeless people. Actually I don't love San Francisco. The best part of visiting San Francisco is landing back at JFK.