If you are thinking of making more money, you join the ranks of millions of Americans just like you. Sometimes, you just have to pack it up and move in order to make the most money, but how do you know where to go? Of course, some of the country’s richest areas are found smack in the middle of the biggest cities – take New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles for example. But, there are some affluent areas that aren’t merely based on the population.
So, if you want to relocate to a metropolitan area with the best earning power, read on. The Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau have come up with metropolitan areas that have the highest per capita income. You’ll be surprised, as you probably haven’t even thought of moving to any of them!
Bridgeport, Connecticut, San Francisco, and Naples, Florida are the top three metropolitan areas with the best earning power. Surprised? We were, too! As you already know, plenty of large metro areas attract the wealthy because of the amount of business volume in the area. The underlying reason for this surprise is that especially large metro areas (such as New York and Chicago) have a very diverse economic population. You have the very rich and the extremely poor which greatly affects the per capita rate.
It is in cities and areas where the wealth gap is smaller, so if you are moving, you may want to move to such a region. Another interesting fact is that military towns, college towns, and state capitals also have good earning power due to their ability to survive economic downturns courtesy of the nature of their local economies. Industrial and business centers of commerce are more likely to fluctuate.
– Jon Huser
