Luxury marketers who want to capture their share of the $234 billion that 211,275 Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) families spend annually on fashion, accessories, automobiles, jewelry, watches, home furnishings, wine and spirits need to look far and wide based on just released research by Wealth-X and UBS.

Slicing apart data from the 2014 World Ultra Wealth Report reveals if American states were viewed as countries, 23 of the top 50 Super Rich populations would be states. The report defines Super Rich/UHNW as $30 million + in assets.

Ranked alongside countries, California would be third in the world, New York sixth, Texas ninth and Florida 12^th

Illinois (17^th), Michigan (19^th), Pennsylvania (21^st), Ohio (23^rd), Massachusetts (27^th), Wisconsin (28^th), Connecticut (31^st), Maryland (32^nd), Virginia (34^th), Minnesota (35^th), New Jersey (36^th), Washington (39^th), North Carolina (41^st), Georgia (43^rd), Tennessee (44^th), Colorado (45^th), Indiana (47^th), Arizona (48^th) and Oklahoma (49^th) show that for marketers there are significant pockets of the Super Rich in the so-called “fly over” states.

Making the point Illinois ranks ahead of Italy (18^th) in UHNW population, Michigan ahead of Spain (20^th), Ohio in front of Saudi Arabia (23^rd), Minnesota ahead of the United Arab Emirates (37^th), Washington before Russia (40^th) and Oklahoma ahead of Turkey (51^st), Indonesia (52^nd), Malaysia (53^rd), Kuwait (56^th) and South Africa (57^th). Going further down the list South Carolina (85^th) has more UHNW households than Israel (86^th) and Montana (87^th) beats Qatar (88^th).

The survey found that UHNWs own just under three residences (2.7) and statistics from the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) indicate private jet users average 41 trips and over 100 flights per year for a mix of business and pleasure meaning the target is always on the move.

From a marketing perspective, in my opinion, the data means that traditional local marketing and regional marketing miss a large portion of super rich prospects. Separate research by Knight Frank and others shows dramatic increases in international residential real estate purchases, while strong sales of luxury goods in the U.S. is partially attributed to foreign visitors.

For hotels that can break their budgets by selling more of their suite inventory and booking groups, jewelers and watchmakers who are selling expensive pieces, fashion houses, automakers and such, the two key takeaways are that the Super Rich have more money and are spending more money than ever, and traditional marketing approaches probably aren’t effective in reaching this fast moving and surprisingly spread-out target.

Click here for a break down on what the Super Rich are buying…