5. Seattle, Washington: more than $157,224
• How much money it takes to be in the top 1% in Washington: $387,854
• Median income in Seattle: $78,612
• Metro-area population: 3.8 million
World-famous for its iconic Space Needle, Seattle is a city with continued strong ties to its economic past even as it looks forward to the economy of the future. With a diverse mix of classic industry and Internet / information technology companies, the greater metro area’s annual gross domestic product tops $230 billion annually, which puts it at number 11 out of all metropolitan economies in the United States for wealth creation. The city’s economy is largely comprised of major corporations, including five Fortune 500 companies: Amazon (which has made its founder Jeff Bezos the richest man in the world), Starbucks, Nordstrom, Expeditors International of Washington, and Weyerhaeuser.