PhillyInc

This surprised us, but perhaps we weren't paying attention: The Philadelphia region allegedly is rising fast on the national ranking of millionaire households as a percentage of all our households. Faster even than other metro areas. This comes from Claritas, the demographic marketing data firm owned by The Neilsen Co. It says, out of 200 large metro areas nationwide, Philly ranked No. 10 last year in percentage of our households with incomes of $2 million or more, up from No. 19 a year earlier. Our share of slumming households -- those with income of $1 million to $2 million -- was No. 9 nationwide, up from No. 14 a year earlier.

In other words, the odds around here of hitting a baseball through the front window of a millionaire's house is going up. And of a $2 millionaire's house, way up.

Hard to tell what's going on here, if anything. Baltimore and Boston also rose in rank, while Santa Barbara and other rich spots fell entirely off this list. Frankly, it's suspicious. Claritas says it tweaked its calculation formula but says the rankings are still comparable from year to year. We'll have to see next year. Meanwhile, you have 12 months to brag.

- Thomas Ginsberg