A survey by pay experts at salary.com evaluated 69 cities with more than 250,000 people and ranked the Big Apple last. Plano came in first among American cities in which to build personal wealth. According to the survey, New York City is the worst place.

Although the top five cities in the survey identified the best five cities for business, it indicated that there is a price to pay for the company and the best five for business ranked in the worst for wealth building. Plano, Texas came in first among American cities in which to build personal wealth, following came Aurora, CO, Omaha, NE, Minneapolis, MN and Albuquerque NM.
Primary concerns in the survey were focused on salaries, cost of living and employment opportunities. Secondary factors were diversity of the local economy, education and the social environment. Another consideration was commute time from the suburbs.
Although New York is known for diversity and highly-educated residents, it could not rate as profitable due to the overinflated environment.
Following last-ranked New York were Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Honolulu and San Francisco.