Want to meet a millionaire? The best opportunities are in the Bay Area
More than one in 200 workers in San Francisco earn at least $1 million a year, the highest rate in the country by far, according to a new analysis of payroll data by ADP.
Research shows that about 1 in 127 jobs in the US pay more than $500,000 a year. In San Francisco, that ratio is less than 1 in 50 – also the largest in the US – followed by Austin and New York, according to research by Issi Romem, an economist at ADP Research Institute, based on payrolls. anonymous.
“Certain areas stand out in terms of sheer numbers,” Romem said in a report. blog parcel. The Bay Area’s wide margins compared with other wealthy metros reflect the unprecedented scale of the tech industry, he said. “Unlike other high-paying professions – such as doctors or lawyers, whose income is limited by the number of patients or clients they can serve – productivity in the public sector Technology, especially in large companies, faces fewer restrictions.
Furthermore, the Bay Area’s longtime leadership in the high-paying tech industry has pushed up housing prices and squeezed out the region’s low- and middle-income residents — hence the concentration of Large income earners in the local population have increased.
When metropolitan areas are ranked by prevalence of $1 million salaries, Florida localities climb higher. By that measure, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers-Naples area took the No. 2 spot behind San Francisco, while North Port-Sarasota and Miami came in fifth and seventh, respectively.
Nationwide, research shows more than 1 million people are paid at least $500,000 a year. The study is based on hundreds of millions of payroll records from 12 months to July 2024, including other forms of pay such as bonuses, commissions and stock options.
When identifying top earners, the ADP data set has an edge over the broadest study of U.S. government demographics and finances, the American Community Survey by the Census Bureau. performed annually. That study also covered household income — but it limited the maximum amount reported by respondents, typically to less than $1 million, to protect high earners from having their identities revealed publicly. In contrast, ADP calculates based on actual wages and can accurately determine the largest amounts.
