The chart above shows the net worth of the billionaires of each region per square mile. The Northeast is in a class by itself.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the highest billionaire net worth per area, the Northeast, and the region with the lowest, the Midwest, is $3,393,845 per square mile.
- The Northeast has 8.54 times the billionaire net worth per area that the Midwest does.
- The Northeast has a higher billionaire net worth per area than each individual state in the South and the Midwest.
- Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Vermont do not have a single billionaire.
Caveats
- Billionaire data is from 2018.
- Area data is from 2010.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Details
The West has the highest billionaire net worth overall, highest when its population is taken into account, the highest average billionaire net worth, but ranks third in this metric. The Midwest trails in overall net worth, per capita net worth, and this metric, but the Northeast trails in average billionaire net worth.
The Northeast is the only region with a state that has over $10 million dollars of billionaire net worth for every square mile.
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.