The chart above shows the net worth of the billionaires of each state divided by the population of said state. Wyoming has a commanding lead in this metric.
Findings
- The difference between the state with the highest per total capita net worth, Wyoming, and the state with the lowest (that has billionaires), Utah, is $102,825.80.
- Wyoming has 237.83 times the per total capita billionaire net worth that Utah does.
- The median per total capita net worth of billionaires in the 50 states is $4,006.40 and the mean $9,931.90.
- The median per total capita net worth of billionaires in the 42 states that do have billionaires is $4,579.00 and the mean $11,823.70.
- Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Vermont do not have a single billionaire.
Caveats
- Billionaire data is from 2018.
- Population data is from 2010.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
Details
California which has the highest billionaire net worth overall, ranks eighth when its population is taken into account. The other two leaders in the overall metric, New York and Washington, rank fifth and third in this metric, respectively. The leader in this metric, Wyoming, ranks 12th when it comes to total net worth of billionaires.
Five states' billionaires net worth is not enough to equal more than $1,000 per citizen of their state. These are (in descending order of per total capita billionaire net worth): West Virginia, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Utah.
Of the seven states with a population over 10 million, New York, California, and Florida rank first, second, and third, respectively and all three have a per total capita of over $9,000. All seven of these states have at least one billionaire.
Of the six states whose billionaires have a total net worth of over $100 billion, Washington, Arkansas, and New York rank first, second, and third, respectively and all three have a per total capita of over $25,000.
Sources
Forbes. 2018. "The World's Billionaires List." Accessed October 2, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/21/#version:static.
United States Census Bureau. September 2012. "United States Summary: 2010: Population and Housing Unit Counts." Accessed January 23, 2018. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/cph-2-1.pdf.