Thanks to changing economics, there is a shift in the rankings of the richest cities in the U.S. Buoyed by the tech boom, San Jose, California, has now become the richest city in America.
Based on data tabulated by Bloomberg, the third largest city in California, which is also the epicenter of Silicon Valley, has become the wealthiest metropolitan area in the country.
The publication analyzed data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on 100 of the biggest metropolitan areas.
The analysis revealed that the 2014 gross metropolitan product (GMP) per capita, which is essentially the economic productivity of each resident in San Jose, was $105,482. This figure is twice the national average.
By comparison, Bridgeport in Connecticut ranked second and accounted for $94,349. The third spot was claimed by San Francisco in California, which had a GMP per capita of $80,643.
The top 20 list of the richest cities in the U.S. is as follows:
1. San Jose - $105,482
2. Bridgeport - $94,349
3. San Francisco - $80,643
4. Seattle - $75,874
5. Boston - $74,746
6. Durham - $73,523
7. Washington D.C. - $72,191
8. New York - $70,830
9. Houston - $70,097
10. Des Moines - $67,256
11. Dallas - $66,168
12. Portland - $64,991
13. Hartford - $64,946
14. Madison - $63,910
15. Minneapolis - $62,054
16. Denver - $61,903
17. Los Angeles - $60,148
18. Salt Lake City - $59,558
19. Philadelphia - $59,240
20. San Diego - $58,540
The 2014 GMP per capita rankings are reflective of the increase in tech centers after the recession. An individual in San Jose earns $11,000 more than a person in Bridgeport does.
According to Edward Glaeser, a professor at Harvard University, the difference in the state rankings is also reflective of the disparity in the concentration of high-skilled and low-skilled workers in the regions.
Glaeser surmises that there is an "ongoing trend towards skilled places being far more compensated than non-skilled places" and that the "poster-child" of this trend is San Jose, whose income growth is "off the charts."
