• By BRIANNA KWASNIK Staff Writer

Charlotte County was named Florida’s number two county for highest per capita net worth, according to SmartAsset.

The study set out to find the places in the United States where residents have the highest net worth. The financial technology company, calculated the ratio of net worth to per capita income for every county.

Net worth per capita takes the net worth of each person who lives in a given area, and divides it by the number of people in the area.

For example, if someone has $200,000 in various accounts in the bank, but $400,000 in debt, than the net worth would be -$200,000.

The study used data from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) to assist their calculations.

ESRI provides the following definition for net worth, “Net worth equals total household assets less any debts, secured or unsecured. Assets include ownership of homes, rental properties, businesses, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and Keogh accounts, pension plans, stocks, mutual funds, and motor vehicles.”

They cite home mortgages and vehicle loans as examples of secured debt; and credit cards and other bills or certain bank loans as examples of unsecured debt.

SmartAsset had data for 60 out of the 67 counties in Florida.

Charlotte County was ranked second, with a PCI of $27,860, a per capita net worth of $63,501, and per capita debt of $31,221.

Per capita debt is how much debt the average person carries.

“Charlotte County ranked third in the state in per capita wealth, behind Sumter and Martin counties, and directly ahead of Sarasota. They also had less per capita debt than Sarasota County. Since these stats are per capita, they are impacted by population,” said senior public relations associate for SmartAsset, Steve Sabato.

“Additionally, Charlotte County had the second best net worth to income ratio in the state, behind Sumter, and the third best net worth to debt ratio, behind Sumter and Citrus Counties. Overall, these metrics helped Charlotte rank second in the state for our study,” he added.

Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director of United Way of Charlotte County, said that if you ask any nonprofit in Charlotte County, they will tell you there are people that are hurting and struggling, and can’t seem to get caught up.

Matthiessen said they have seen an increase in financial struggles in the community based on the 2018 ALICE report, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The ALICE report is a tool used by the United Way that aims to provide a picture of financial insecurity at the state, county, and municipal level.

Matthiessen said the findings from the ALICE report will be released in the end of January 2019.

Sarasota was ranked ninth, with a per capita income of $35,210 and a per capita net worth of $57,694 and per capita debt of $40,172.