FARGO -- North Dakota edged up another two spots to rank 18th among the states in millionaire households per capita, according to a new wealth ranking.
Of North Dakota's 318,190 households, 18,492 households had more than $1 million or more in investable assets in 2015, according to an analysis by Phoenix Marketing International.
That translates into a ratio of millionaires to total households of 5.81 percent.
North Dakota, buoyed by the now quieted oil boom, had a meteoric rise in the rankings, gaining 14 spots between 2012 and 2013 and another nine in 2014.
"Your rise in the rankings has been pretty spectacular since 2012," said David Thompson, Phoenix Marketing International's managing director, affluent practice.
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"We have not seen anything like that since we've been covering these markets since the 1980s," he said.
The readings are from mid-2014 to mid-2015, so the full impact of the sharp drop in oil and other commodities are not reflected in the latest rankings, Thompson said, although North Dakota still rose in the comparison.
"That would probably reflect more positive momentum from your energy boom" Thompson said. "Definitely you inched up."
But with oil prices sharply lower, it will be a challenge for North Dakota to sustain its rise, he added.
"It will be interesting to see where North Dakota places next year," Thompson said.
Mississippi ranked last, with 3.94 percent. South Dakota's ranking was 26th and its ratio was 5.07 percent, slightly below the U.S. average of 5.37 percent, according to the Phoenix Marketing International.
