Like much of America, California's wealth is concentrated among a small group of high-income earners. The state has 16 million households, and just 61,000 of them -- 0.4 percent -- together account for one-fifth of the state's income, according to the latest tax return figures from the Franchise Tax Board.
Each of those 61,000 households reported income of more than $1 million on 2014 tax returns. The ranks of the million-plus earners grew from 45,000 in 2012.
Those high earners are most likely to live in the Bay Area. In Marin County, for instance, about 180 of every 10,000 households reported income of at least $1 million on 2014 returns, more than quadruple the statewide average.
The Sacramento region is not home to anywhere near that scale of wealth. About 9 of every 10,000 households in Sacramento County reported earnings of at least $1 million on 2014 returns, roughly one-fourth the statewide rate. Placer, El Dorado and Yolo Counties had rates two to three times as high, but still fell short of the statewide average.
The fortunes of the wealthy are important in California because the state's income tax system is progressive. Though they represent 0.4 percent of the state's population, those 60,000 households pay almost 35 percent of its income tax.
This map shows the number of 2014 tax returns per 10,000 households in each county reporting more than $1 million in earnings.
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