• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 22, 2002

In the 85 metro markets surveyed regularly by The Media Audit, with a combined adult population of approximately 128 million, their recent release says that in spite of a recession and a series of extraordinary negative events, the number of households earning $75,000+ and $100,000+ increased during 2001. And, the number of households with liquid assets of $100,000+ and $250,000+ increased in real numbers.

Bob Jordan, co-chairman of The Media Audit, says "Some researchers have been predicting 3 and 4 percent declines in the number of affluent households (income exceeding $100,000), but in (our survey) the decline did not materialize, and our numbers traditionally mirror national survey results.

Adults with annual household incomes of $75,000 + increased from 28,279,000 or 22.6 percent of the adult population surveyed in 2000 to 31,189,000 or 24.3 percent in 2001. Seven markets had more than 30 percent of adults with incomes of $75,000:
- San Jose 41.7%
- D.C. 38.8
- San Francisco 34.0
- New Haven 30.7
- Boston 30.4
- Minneapolis/St Paul 30.3
- Atlanta 30.2

Adults with household incomes of $100,000+ increased from 14,895,000 or 11.9 percent in 2000 to 16,312,000 or 12.7 percent in 2001. In eleven markets, 14 percent or more of adults had incomes of $100,000+:
- San Jose 26.7%
- D.C. 22.5
- San Francisco 20.8
- Atlanta 16.9
- New York City 16.7
- Denver 15.8
- New Haven 15.2
- Minneapolis/St Paul 14.7
- Boston 14.6
- Baltimore 14.5
- Hartford 14.1

From 2000 to 2001 the number of adults with liquid assets of $100,000+ declined from 20.5 to 20.1 percent, and adults with liquid assets of $250,000+ declined from 7.9 to 7.8 but increased from 9,893,000 to 10,002,000. "These very slight changes," says Jordan, "would, ordinarily, be dismissed as insignificant, but the past year was so rife with bad news the numbers become interesting because they reflect an incredible resilience in the marketplace."

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