The US Census recently published its list of US metropolitan areas with the highest concentrations of wealth—areas where the largest portion of population earn incomes in the top 5th percentile.

The richest city in America is Bridgeport, Conn., a suburb of New York City. Home to many of the nation’s hedge fund billionaires, the city also has a struggling industrial side. Although it has the highest proportion of top 5-percentes in the country, its median household income is only about $30,000.

Other cities on the list, such as Midland, Texas, boast more evenly-distributed wealth. The unemployment rate in petroleum-rich Midland is only 3 percent and 25 percent of the labor force works in mining.  The city’s large wages are highly dependent on natural resources and the price of energy.

Other cities, such as San Francisco, San Jose, Boston and New York City, are dependent on human resources. The high wages in the cities are thanks to highly-educated and innovative people of the 21^st Century,

Samantha Lile

Samantha Lile is a 2002 Missouri State University graduate of journalism and mass media. She has served as a reporter and editor for various newspapers throughout her journalism career. She made the leap into writing full-time after working for a major financial institution since 2000.

Because of her banking background, Samantha is knowledgeable in finance reporting, but is also strong in commentaries, personal profiles, youth studies, horticulture, history and entertainment-related works.

Samantha lives in Ozark, Mo. with her husband of nine years, four dogs and two cats.

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