Top 10 millionaire counties
The number of millionaires rose to a record level in 2005, and more than 1.1 million of them can be found in just 10 counties.
By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The number of American millionaires rose to a record level last year, and they're disproportionately located in four counties in California, according to an analysis released Tuesday.

Other states with counties that boast the highest number of millionaires across the country are Illinois, Arizona, Texas, New York, Florida and Massachusetts.

Number 5 in millionaires: San Diego County
Number 5 in millionaires: San Diego County
The millionaires next door
Ten counties across America with the highest number of millionaire residents.
Rank County No. of millionaire households 
Los Angeles County, CA 262,800 
Cook County, IL 167,873 
Orange County, CA 113,299 
Maricopa County, AZ 106,210 
San Diego County, CA 100,030 
Harris County, TX 96,593 
Nassau County, NY 78,816 
Santa Clara County, CA 75,371 
Palm Beach County, FL 69,871 
10 Middlesex County, MA 67,552 
 
 Source:  TNS Financial Services

Nationwide, households with a net worth of at least $1 million excluding primary residences rose 8 percent to a record high 8.9 million, according to an annual report by TNS Financial Services, a market research and polling firm.

The firm's survey found that the millionaire households had an average net worth, excluding principal residence, of nearly $2.2 million, of which more than $1.4 million was in liquid, or investable, assets.

Their overall debt levels, meanwhile, fell by 8 percent, from $179,000 to $165,000.

Who's heading these households? TNS found the median age of the head of millionaire households is 58, and 45 percent are retired. Roughly 19 percent own in whole or part a professional practice or privately held business.

Over 50 percent of the millionaires surveyed said they had become more conservative in their investment approach over the past year. Their wealth is the result of long-term wealth accumulation.

Although real estate is not their sole source of wealth, it remains a staple for many. Forty-six percent of those surveyed own investment real estate like a second home or rental properties.

Seventy percent of the households, meanwhile, owned stocks and bonds, and 68 percent owned mutual funds.

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For more on the TNS survey's findings, click here.

For a look at millionaires in the making, click hereTop of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.