Top states for millionaires per capita

Thomas Frank | CNBC

Virginia may be for lovers, but Maryland is for millionaires.

Maryland has more millionaire households per capita than any other state, according to new research. It had 169,287 households with investable assets of $1 million or more, or about 7.7% of the state's households in 2013, according to a study from Phoenix Marketing International, a wealth research firm.

In other words, you're more likely to bump into a millionaire in Maryland than in any other state.

The second-highest state for per-capita millionaires was New Jersey, where 7.49% of its households are millionaires. Connecticut ranked third, with a millionaire ratio of 7.32% of total households.

Nationwide, the firm estimates there are 6.1 million households with investable assets of $1 million or more. California, Texas and New York hold 25% of the nation's millionaire households, but given their large populations, they rank lower in millionaire density.

David Thompson, managing director of the Phoenix Global Wealth Monitor, said being ranked at the top of the millionaire-ratio list is as much a function of geography as policy. Most of the top states are small geographically, but located near major wealth centers, like New York or Washington, he said.

"They are small, but they have access to centers of influence," he said.

North Dakota led the country when it comes to the growth of millionaires per capita last year, helped no doubt by the energy boom. The state added 1,800 new millionaire households to its population of 294,000 households, bringing its millionaire ratio to 4.59% from 4% in 2012.

The other big gainers last year were Maine, Louisiana and South Dakota.

The biggest loser when it comes to millionaires per capita was Nevada, which lost 8,000 millionaire households and saw its millionaire ratio drop to 4.35% from 5.13% in 2012. Other big losers included Florida, Michigan and Idaho.

When it comes to the sheer total of millionaire households in each state, California has the most, with 777,624 millionaire households. That is followed by Texas, with 456,949, and New York, with 429,153.

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