10 Worst U.S. Cities to Build Wealth

A city that is wealthy overall doesn’t necessarily mean that the average household has the tools it needs to get ahead financially, according to a new Bankrate.com report.

The report ranked 21 large metro areas in five categories – savable income, human capital, debt burden, homeownership and access to financial services – to determine which is best or worst for building wealth.

“The New York metro area – a place that many people think of as a great place to build wealth, and where you’re likely to make a higher salary than the rest of the country – didn’t make our top 5 this year,” of best places to build wealth, the report states.

In fact, the New York area is among the worst 10 metro areas that Bankrate ranked. According to Bankrate, this is in part to the difficulty of buying a home there and lack of access to workplace retirement plans for many workers.

(Related: 15 Best US Cities for Retirement: 2016 and 10 Best U.S. Cities to Build Wealth)

 The stress of not having that cushion can have “far-reaching implications” that can even extend to your physical well-being, according to Sheng Guo, an economics instructor and researcher at Florida International University.

“There’s this feedback loop from wealth to health,” Guo said in the report. “If you have little wealth, then uncertainty about what will happen to your household – to your kids, to yourself – will actually put a drag on your own health.”

Here are the 10 worst metro areas for building wealth, according to Bankrate.

10. Chicago

Savable income: $11,966

Homeownership rate: 62.7%

Debt burden: $27,594

9. New York

Savable income: $11,981

Homeownership rate: 49.5%

Debt burden: $25,687

8. Dallas

Savable income: $9,177

Homeownership rate: 59.1%

Debt burden: $29,204

7. San Diego

Savable income: $2,692

Homeownership rate: 52.1%

Debt burden: $26,266