America’s 0.1 percent live vastly different lives from the rest of the population. Those at the top have incomes that are orders of magnitude higher than the average person. While some states are home to more of the richest people in the country than others, each state has its fair share of residents in the top 1 percent. 
We take a look at how they made their money, the state of America’s wealth gap, and learn just who is the richest person in each state.

How They Got Rich

According to data from Forbes, the wealthiest members of each state did not achieve their fortunes in the same way, but there are obvious themes. The wealthiest people are often:

Earning vs. Inheriting Wealth

Of the wealthiest in each state, roughly half are businesspeople. Another major path to wealth is inheritance, with the Walton and Mars families being the most striking examples.
Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s success trickled down to his family, making his heirs—Jim, Alice, and Christy—the wealthiest person in their states at some point. Meanwhile, the Mars fortune has made its way down to a second generation. John Franklyn Mars’s grandchildren are still enjoying the benefits of his immense success in the 1920s when he created the food company. Three of his grandchildren, Victoria, Jacqueline, and John, who recently unseated Christy Walton as the richest in Wyoming, are the richest residents in their states.

Academics May Not Be as Important as We Think

From undergraduate to doctoral degrees, most members of the list have some sort of college education. But the wealthiest have shown us that years of studying aren’t necessarily a prerequisite to striking it rich. Bill Gates is the wealthiest example of a college dropout who became a billionaire, but he isn’t the richest person in his home state of Washington. Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, has that designation.
On the other side of the academic spectrum, Delaware’s Robert Gore holds a Ph.D. but ranks second to last amongst the people on this list in terms of his net worth.

The Wealth Gap

The Wealthiest People in Each State - Movoto Real Estate
No matter the source of wealth or where the wealthiest Americans call home, there’s no denying the extreme gap between the mega wealthy and the average American. A Pew Research Center report from early 2020 found that this wealth gap has been getting wider as time goes on. “In 1989, the richest 5 percent of families had 114 times as much wealth as families in the second quintile, $2.3 million compared with $20,300. By 2016, this ratio had increased to 248, a much sharper rise than the widening gap in income.”
This division exists state-by-state as well with the majority of billionaires residing in California and New York. Meanwhile, there are no billionaires in six states: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Vermont. 

The Wealthiest People in Each State

State Richest Resident Net Worth Source of Wealth
Alabama Jimmy Rane $900 million Entrepreneur
Alaska Jonathan Rubini and Leonard Hyde $340 million Real Estate Developers
Arizona Arturo Moreno $3.3 billion Businessperson
Arkansas Rob Walton $69.8 billion Inheritor
California Elon Musk $132.1 billion Entrepreneur
Colorado Philip Anschutz $11.7 billion Businessperson
Connecticut Ray Dalio $16.9 billion Hedge Fund Manager
Delaware Elizabeth Snyder and Robert Gore $750 million Inheritors
Florida Thomas Peterffy $18.6 billion Businessperson
Georgia Jim Kennedy $8.2 billion Businessperson
Hawaii Pierre Omidyar $19.3 billion Entrepreneur
Idaho Frank VanderSloot $2.7 billion Entrepreneur
Illinois Ken Griffin $15 billion Hedge Fund Manager
Indiana Carl Cook $10.5 billion Businessperson
Iowa Harry Stine $5.4 billion Businessperson
Kansas Charles Koch $44.9 billion Inheritor/Businessperson
Kentucky Tamara Gustavson $5.2 billion Inheritor
Louisiana Gayle Benson $3.3 billion Businessperson
Maine Susan Alfond $1.9 billion Inheritor
Maryland Ted Lerner $4.8 billion Real Estate Developer
Massachusetts Abigail Johnson $15 billion Inheritor/Businessperson
Michigan Dan Gilbert $42.8 billion Businessperson
Minnesota Glen Taylor $2.5 billion Businessperson
Mississippi Leslie Lampton $2.4 billion Businessperson
Missouri James and Thomas Duff $1.2 billion Inheritor/Businessperson
Montana Dennis Washington $6.3 billion Businessperson
Nebraska Warren Buffett $87.4 billion Businessperson
Nevada Sheldon Adelson $35 billion Businessperson
New Hampshire Andrea Reimann-Ciardelli $720 million Inheritor
New Jersey John Overdeck $6.5 billion Hedge Fund Manager
New Mexico Mack C. Chase $910 million Businessperson
New York Michael Bloomberg $54.9 billion Businessperson
North Carolina James Goodnight $6.5 billion Entrepreneur
North Dakota Gary Tharaldson $1 billion Entrepreneur
Ohio Les Wexner $5.4 billion Entrepreneur
Oklahoma David Green $7.6 billion Entrepreneur
Oregon Phil Knight $50.6 billion Entrepreneur
Pennsylvania Victoria Mars $7.2 billion Inheritor
Rhode Island Jonathan Nelson $2 billion Businessperson
South Carolina Anita Zucker $1.9 billion Businessperson
South Dakota T. Denny Sanford $1.6 billion Businessperson
Tennessee Tommy Frist Jr. $12.8 billion Businessperson/Physician
Texas Alice Walton $70.4 billion Inheritor
Utah Gail Miller $1.9 billion Inheritor/Businessperson
Vermont John Abele $640 million Entrepreneur
Virginia Jacqueline Mars $28.9 billion Inheritor
Washington Jeff Bezos $186.5 billion Entrepreneur
West Virginia Jim Justice II $1.2 billion Inheritor/Businessperson
Wisconsin John Menard, Jr. $14.2 billion Entrepreneur
Wyoming John Mars $28.9 billion Inheritor

 

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