"Wealthy" isn't what it used to be.
The run-up in housing prices and values over the past decade has created a great deal of paper wealth for area residents, but there are plenty of people with big houses and big mortgages who wouldn't consider themselves rich.
Every two years, Claremont-based Glencrest Investment Advisors does what it calls an "Inland Empire Wealth Study," looking at folks with at least $1million in liquid assets.
If you're wondering why this matters to you, it's because wealth tends to bring things with it that are used by more than just the wealthy.
If you've ever shopped at Rancho Cucamonga's Victoria Gardens or Corona's Dos Lagos, played golf on an elite public course or eaten dinner at an expensive restaurant, you can thank the high-end demographic that convinced those businesses that the Inland Empire was a good place to be.
The typical wealthy person tends to be white (92.9 percent), age 61 or older (83.9percent), married (82.3percent) and a resident of the area for more than 10 years (71.8 percent).
Maybe a little more surprisingly, that person has an income of less than $200,000 a year (77.4 percent), with 32.3percent under $100,000 a year.
In fact, 59.4percent are retired, showing that at least inland wealth is more the accumulation of a lifetime than a quick strike.
"Wealth tends to be a very slippery term to define," said Tom Steffanci, senior managing director of Glencrest. "Only about three-quarters of these people `feel' wealthy."
Some of them don't feel well off at all. Threepercent of those surveyed called themselves "lower middle class."
Traditionally, the greatest concentration of inland wealth has been in the Coachella Valley, although that is changing. The percentage of millionaires residing there has fallen from 49.8percent in the first survey in 2003 to 40percent this time.
"The Coachella Valley is still where the money is," Steffanci said. "But wealth along the 91 corridor is growing rapidly, as is wealth in communities like Rancho Cucamonga and Claremont."
Redlands-based regional economist John Husing says studies like this confirm his long-held view that the area is becoming the new Orange County.
"There was a time that much of Orange County was not considered particularly wealthy," he said. "It certainly wasn't seen as a place that could support professional baseball or hockey. But that changed, and now we have 4.1million people out here in the Inland Empire."
Husing said that given the high-end housing being built all over the area, it wasn't surprising that less of the wealth was centered in the Coachella Valley.
"Wealth is creating a demand for different aspects of life that would not grow without it," he said. "Higher-end merchants and restaurants, different art forms. As wealth grows, demand for the arts takes off."
The inland wealthy listen to the radio (90percent), watch television (98percent), read newspapers (94percent) and read at least one magazine on a regular basis (92percent).
Their biggest financial worries are sharp rises in educational costs (80.1percent), terrorism (66.1percent), difficult financial times for the next generation (65.6percent) and war in the Middle East (61.8percent).
They're not particularly worried about supporting parents or grandparents (9.9percent), delaying retirement (11.7percent) or Social Security running out of money (14.9percent).
"If there's one thing surprising to us, it's that only about 10percent of the most wealthy use an investment adviser," Steffanci said. "They tend to have conservative investment habits, and they tend to stay on top of things themselves."
Glencrest defines "Inland Empire" for its study as San Bernardino and Riverside counties along with the eastern edge of Los Angeles County - La Verne, Pomona and Claremont.
Business Editor Michael Rappaport can be reached at m_rappaport@dailybulletin.com or at (909) 483-9395.
QUICK FACTS
Some statistics from Glencrest Investment Advisors' 2007 "Inland Empire Wealth Study" of people with at least $1million in liquid assets:
82.3percent are married.
86percent spend at least an hour a week on the Internet.
29.1percent are worried they will outlive their money.
12.1percent give more than 10 percent of their income to charity.
WHERE DO THEY LIVE?
A breakdown of where wealthy people (those with more than $1million in liquid assets) live in inland Southern California:
Coachella Valley - 40 percent
West Valley (Ontario, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga) - 11.9 percent
91 Freeway corridor - 11.4 percent
Redlands, Yucaipa, Pass area - 9.3 percent
South Riverside County - 8.1 percent
East Los Angeles County (Pomona, La Verne, Claremont) - 7.4 percent
High Desert, mountains and other areas - 7.1 percent
Central Valley - 4.9 percent
Source: Glencrest Investment Advisors
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