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This helps explain the housing market here: The Boston area has the nation’s third-highest share of millionaire households, at 7.5 percent, according to financial research firm Phoenix Marketing International.
That is about 139,000 households, and is based on 2016 figures.
Only the Washington, D.C., and San Francisco areas have greater numbers of households with at least $1 million in wealth each.
The Boston region’s mix of high-paying industries goes a long way toward explaining the number of very affluent households, according to the analysis.
And that number of affluent households goes a long way toward explaining the city’s high housing prices. It’s not just the low supply and the high demand—though that’s the biggest driver—it’s also the fact that there are plenty of locals who can afford $1.7 million two-bedrooms and $2,100 studios.