Recession be damned. Of 55,000 Americans worth over $30 million, almost 20 percent live in California — more than any other state.

Wealth-X, the self-proclaimed world leader in “wealth intelligence,” reports that 9,800 of these “ultra high net worth individuals” (that's UHNW to you, street rat) choose to live their lavish rich-person lives in the Golden State, compared to 7,300 in New York and 5,200 in Texas.

Yeah, so our overall population…

is also much higher, but if you squint your eyes and envision all our fabulous mink-coated fat cats as little red dots on a map, you'll see that it's the West Coast where the most U.S. wealth-hoarders really want to be. We're sure they could cram into an overpriced Manhattan flat if they really wanted to, but in the end, the sparkling ocean views from a Malibu mansion really kick that bed-buggy crap to the curb.

Some of the bigger shockers on the list include Illinois, which has more UHNWs than Florida, despite being not even three-quarters its size. Maybe the raucous “Jersey Shore” on vacay crowd is driving all Jewish grandparents from Florida to Chicago?

Speaking of “Jersey Shore,” that little trashy rhinestone of a state came in No. 11 on the wealth list. We're thinking Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and the “Housewives” cast probably threw off the statistics.

According to Wealth-X, “only three states have less than 100 ultra high net worth individuals: Alaska, Delaware and North Dakota.” Every UHNW in Alaska is no doubt related to Sarah Palin — as for the other two nowhere states, we've got zero guesses as to who in their right mind would suffer through life there with $30 million to spare.

Uh-oh. It looks like Wealth-X might have released these numbers on rich-get-richer ethics. The press release quotes its VP:

“Firms that are serious about increasing their assets under management should consider aligning their hiring plans with the best locations in the market,” says David Friedman, Wealth-X Executive Vice President for Strategy.

Still, we'll get behind the study, mostly for “We're rich, bitch!” bragging rights and those moments we want to pretend California's not in a $28 billion hole. UHNW pride!

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