business sharks: The Money's in Manhattan. Manhattan, Kansas

Personal income shrank in some of the country's wealthiest areas, while government and military employment drove income gains in smaller metros

By Venessa Wong

Manhattan has weathered the recent economic downturn better than most other metro areas in the U.S. Per capita personal income has jumped 4.8 percent over 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). But good luck trying to walk in Central Park or shopping at Bloomingdale's. If you want to do so, you'll have to drive about 21 hours due east.

That's because the Manhattan in question is in Kansas. Home to Fort Riley, Manhattan, Kan., is the metro area in the U.S. with one of the highest increases in personal income over the past year. The area employs more than 5,540 civilian personnel, according to the Economic Development Division of the Manhattan (Kansas) Chamber of Commerce, and personal income rose to $40,345 in 2009, BEA data show. Manhattan also had the third biggest jump in per capita income, 48 percent, from 2000 to 2009.

Over the past year some smaller areas that rely on government and military for employment, such as Jacksonville, N.C., and Manhattan, Kan., have experienced per capita income increases, while more affluent regions, such as the area that covers Manhattan, N.Y., watched per capita income drop 4.6 percent, to $52,375, over the same period. Another affluent area, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, is at the top of the country's metropolitan statistical areas in per capita personal income—$73,720 in 2009, according to the BEA—but overall income has dropped 6.8 percent, to $73,720.

For the past three years the Bridgeport metro, as well as the metro areas of San Francisco and Naples, Fla., have held the top spots for per capita personal income, but levels have gradually decreased since 2007 as unemployment rose, according to BEA data.

Wealthy individuals remain concentrated near large cities with business and finance hubs, but William H. Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer, says state capitals, military towns, and college towns also often have higher-than-average incomes due to their ability to survive economic downturns, as their main industries are buffered by government-related funds.

Income Drops in Affluent Areas

Personal income dropped in most places around the country last year, according to the BEA. Per capita personal income, or total personal income divided by total population, does not indicate the income disparity in an area but is a broad indicator of an area's economic well being, says Mark Mather, associate vice-president for domestic programs at the Population Reference Bureau. It can also be a good indicator of the cost of living, since areas with high incomes tend to have higher housing costs and other expenses.

"Fairfield County is a hotbed for financial entrepreneurs, and this resulted in the growth of other businesses to service these financial firms and their wealthy owners," says Gregory H. Skidmore, president and chief investment officer of Belray Asset Management, a Greenwich (Conn.) wealth management firm.

While the number of millionaire households in the U.S. has rebounded since 2008, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, capita income decreased slightly in affluent metros in 2009 as private sector wages stagnated and unemployment rates increased.

For example, in the Bridgeport metropolitan area, per capita personal income fell 6.8 percent in 2009, from $79,108 in 2008, BEA figures show. The unemployment rate rose to 8.6 percent in August 2010 from 8.2 percent a year earlier, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

In Naples-Marco Island, Fla., a wealthy metro of 318,537 people, per capita personal income fell 8 percent, to $57,548, in 2009. Unemployment ticked up to 13.6 percent in August 2010.

The biggest percentage drop was in Midland, Tex., an oil rich area where per capita income fell 8.4 percent, to $49,441. Midland had the highest per capita income among Texas' metros in 2009, according to BEA data...