It pays to be near the centre of political power more than traditional havens of finance these days, according to new figures.

Maryland has edged out Hawaii and New Jersey as the state with the most millionaires per capita, according to rankings from Phoenix Marketing International.

The firm uses household-level data and classes millionaires as those with $1 million or more in investible or liquid assets (excluding sponsored retirement plans or real estate). The measures used by various studies to look at high net worth wealth mean that different studies often yield widely differing results.

The fact that Maryland - a relatively tiny state near the US capital - is at the top of the rankings illustrates a possible shift in the centre of economic gravity in the US since the 2008 financial crisis. As the role of government has - rightly or wrongly - grown and traditional financial centres such as New York have lost influence, some of this may be reflected in where the most millionaires now live and work. 

For example, a recent study by WealthInsight, which looked at high net worth state populations as opposed to densities, saw California come out on top, with 4,929 wealthy residents. It was followed by: New York (4,363), Texas (3,828) and Florida (2,597). This study examined ultra-wealthy individuals with $30 million or more excluding primary residence – showing the way different segments of the wealth scale are also distributed in the US.

Phoenix’s Global Wealth Monitor found that some 7.31 per cent of Maryland’s households were millionaire households; Hawaii came a very close second at 7.29 per cent, followed by New Jersey at 7.27 per cent. These were followed by Connecticut with 7.21 per cent and Massachusetts with 6.51 per cent.

It is also interesting to note that the states coming out on top in terms of wealthy populations are the fourth largest states by overall population, while none of Maryland, Hawaii or New Jersey features in the top ten most populous states, according to data from the ipl2 website.

Rounding out the top ten states in terms of millionaire density are: Alaska (6.47 per cent), Virginia (6.36 per cent), California (6.09 per cent), New Hampshire (6.09 per cent), and the District of Columbia (6.02 per cent).

Around 5 per cent of households in the US are millionaire households, said David Thompson, managing director of the Phoenix Global Wealth Monitor, accounting for some six million households with around $22 trillion in liquid wealth.

“That is a staggering number, and provides further evidence of the concentration of wealth in this country,” said Thompson.