Los Alamos is Tops in Residents' Personal Savings and Investing Behavior

Los Alamos scored a rating of 134.83, indexed to a national average of 100. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA placed second, with a rating of 127.61 and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT, placed third with a rating of 125.15, A.G. Edwards said in a press release.

According to the survey, communities that ranked highly in the Index benefit from local strong housing markets and show a high propensity toward saving and investing, particularly in retirement vehicles such as 401(k) or pension plans, the release said. Though the top-performing markets have higher costs of living than the national average, residents still manage to keep their debt levels in check, as 19 out of the top 20 communities showed lower debt levels than the national average.

Among the states, Connecticut ranked first with a rating of 114.25. The other states in the top five of the 2007 A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index are New Jersey (113.21), Minnesota (112.59), Massachusetts (112.19), and Maryland (111.59).

Rounding out the top ten cities were:

• Torrington, CT (121.15)
• San Francisco-Oakland-Freemont, CA (118.94)
• Barnstable Town, MA (118.36)
• Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (116.98)
• Holland-Grand Haven, MI (116.87)
• Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA (116.65)
• Edwards, CO (116.46)

Ohio had the most communities in the top 500 list at 37, followed by Indiana (32), Pennsylvania (30), and Michigan (29). All 24 Wisconsin communities were ranked in the top 500, while no communities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma were represented in the top 500.

The complete A.G. Edwards Nest Egg Index is at http://www.nesteggindex.com.