17. Atlanta, Georgia: more than $125,226
• How much money it takes to be in the top 1% in Georgia: $345,876
• Median income in Atlanta: $62,613
• Metro-area population: 5.8 million
It’s the New York of the South. Boasting an annual GDP in excess of $300 billion, the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area economy is the eighth strongest in the country and the 17th largest in the entire world, in addition to claiming the lion’s share of corporate headquarters for Fortune 500 companies, with the third largest share in America. Global headquarters for companies like The Coca-Cola Company, The Home Depot, Delta Air Lines, AT&T Mobility, Chick-fil-A, and UPS generate billions of dollars of revenue for Atlanta’s powerhouse economy. Atlanta has a highly educated workforce with 45 percent of adults over the age of 25 holding a four-year college degree (the national average is 28 percent). No overview of Atlanta’s economy would do without mention of CNN and the Turner Broadcasting System, which are headquartered in the city.