TheBuzz Erika Engle

Hawaii loses millionaire title to Atlantic states

Hawaii has plummeted from its post as the state with the highest percentage of millionaires, a distinction we've had for at least the last two years.

We got whacked by the home of the fictional Sopranos, New Jersey, and are now in fourth place, according to New York-based Phoenix Affluent Market Practice.

Phoenix defines a millionaire household as having $1 million or more in investable or liquid assets.

Hawaii's millionaire resident percentage shot up 13 percent from 2005 to 2006, but dipped 1.5 percent from 2006 to 2007.

New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts saw increases of more than 9 percent from 2005 to 2006, while Maryland's millionaire rate shot up 12.7 percent in that time frame.

All four other states saw double-digit percentage increases from 2006 to 2007, enough to topple formerly tip-top Hawaii.

"Traditional East Coast concentrations of wealth have continued to outperform most of the rest of the country," said David Thompson, Phoenix managing director, in a statement. He cited regional residents' high levels of education, access to top paying jobs in finance and technology and four years of stock market advances.

The East Coast numbers make sense to Phoenix spokesman Ray Graber, who notes that many communities in New Jersey and Connecticut are "suburbs of New York City."

Well-heeled-ness also improved in Alaska, though, which jumped to No. 8 in 2007, when it had been No. 14 in the previous two years.

The company has conducted this type of research since 1983, Thompson told TheBuzz.

Phoenix uses Census-based data collected by Claritas, a marketing information resources company, to which Phoenix applies algorithms to come up with its millionaire numbers. They are, "estimates, not hard counts of households," Thompson said. However, "we've found they've been pretty reliable over the years."

Hawaii only has one city that qualifies as a true metro area, or core-based statistical area, as Claritas calls them.

Thompson's data shows that the Honolulu area has about 21,400 millionaire households, but added, "I couldn't tell you how far that extends out," so it may or may not include say, the old Sullivan estate on the North Shore.

Phoenix clients who use the research include leading national banks and wealth management companies, Thompson said.

Millionaire states