6. Minneapolis, Minnesota: more than $146,462
• How much money it takes to be in the top 1% in Minnesota: $411,022
• Median income in Minneapolis: $73,231
• Metro-area population: 3.6 million
The Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area (referred to as the Twin Cities) is ranked number 3 for economy influence in the American Midwest, after Chicago and Detroit. As the area was being settled, the credit needs of wheat farmers in the area catalyzed the growth of a robust banking sector, and Minneapolis remains an important financial center today. Other prominent sectors in the Twin Cities economy include trade and distribution, rail and long haul trucking, health services, and various industrial concerns that create metal and automobile products, chemical and agriculture goods, electronic components, computers, medical instrumentation and devices, plastics, and industrial machinery. There are five Fortune 500 companies that call Minneapolis home: Target Stores, U.S. Bancorp, Xcel Energy, Ameriprise Financial, and Thrivent Financial.