A.G. Edwards recently released its second annual “Nest Egg Index,” which ranks America’s 500 top-performing communities and the 50 states based on their residents’ personal.... A.G. Edwards recently released its second annual “Nest Egg Index,” which ranks America’s 500 top-performing communities and the 50 states based on their residents’ personal savings and investing behavior. By measuring a dozen statistical factors — including participation in retirement savings plans, personal debt levels and home ownership — the Nest Egg Index shows the geographic regions where people are succeeding and where they face the greatest difficulty in building and nurturing their nest eggs.

Earning the top spot in the Nest Egg Index is Los Alamos, N.M., with a rating of 134.31 (indexed to a national average of 100). Ranking No. 2 is Connecticut’s Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk with a 126.20 rating. San Jose, Calif., last year’s top-ranked market, placed third with a rating of 125.93.

The communities rounding out the top 10 of the 2006 A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index are:
4. Torrington, Conn. (120.85)
5. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn. (117.83)
6. Barnstable Town, Mass. (117.73)
7. Holland-Grand Haven, Mich. (117.14)
8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va. (117.11)
9. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. (116.42)
10. Edwards, Colo. (116.24)

New to this year’s A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index is the addition of smaller micropolitan statistical areas, defined as areas with populations of 10,000 to 50,000, allowing A.G. Edwards to study a broader assortment of communities — 934 — and rank the top 500. In total, the communities considered for this year’s expanded Nest Egg Index account for more than 90 percent of America’s population and encompass markets from the southern tip of Florida to the far reaches of Alaska.

According to this year’s findings, communities that ranked highly in the A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index enjoy strong housing markets and show a high propensity towards saving and investing, particularly in retirement vehicles such as 401(k) or pension plans. And though these top-performing markets tend to show higher costs of living, residents still manage to keep their debt levels in check.

Despite having a population of just 18,500, top-ranked Los Alamos surpassed all other communities in household income and net worth. The city also placed second among all cities reviewed on 401(k), pension and other retirement plans penetration. Thanks in large part to the presence of employers such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory, 68 percent of workers in the area hold managerial or professional positions such as scientists, engineers, lawyers and doctors, the highest concentration of such top-level jobs in the nation, according to a recent study by American City Business Journals.

Of the 500 communities in the 2006 A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index, 259 are classified as micropolitan and 241 are metropolitan areas according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In comparison, the 2005 Nest Egg Index looked at 318 metropolitan areas and ranked the top 200.
For a complete list of rankings by community, state, metropolitan area only and micropolitan area only, visit nesteggindex.com.

A Stately Look at Saving and Investing

Among the states, New Jersey once again ranked No. 1 with a Nest Egg Index reading of 114.55, up slightly from last year’s rating of 114.35. The other states in the top five of the 2006 A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index are Connecticut (114.37, up from 113.98 in 2005); Minnesota (113.46, down from 113.70); Maryland (112.28, up from 111.40); and Massachusetts (111.77, even with last year).
The biggest mover among the states is Hawaii, which rose in the rankings to No. 13 from No. 21 in 2005, due in large part to a sharp increase in housing value. Other big gainers include California, which moved up to No. 27 from No. 32, and Rhode Island, which came in at No. 18, up from No. 22 place last year.

In the 2006 Nest Egg Index, 46 states had markets that fell within the top 500 communities, with only Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma unrepresented. In addition, 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., had communities that ranked in the top 100 markets.

Ohio had the most communities making the top 500 list at 38, followed by Indiana (36), Pennsylvania (30), Michigan (29), Illinois (25), Wisconsin (25), Iowa (24), Minnesota (22) and New York (20), all with 20 or more communities in the top 500.