Newton has been rated the top wealth center among communities nationwide in a new listing by the business news Web site Portfolio.com.

Newport Beach, Calif., came in second in the survey. Pleasanton in California, Arlington in Virginia and Santa Monica in California round out the top five.

More than a quarter of Newport Beach’s households (28.6 percent) have annual incomes of more than $200,000. Just two other cities in the study group are above 17 percent – Newton and Pleasanton – though neither does any better than 24 percent.

San Francisco, which trailed behind in eighth position, was the largest city in the survey that looked at high household incomes of more than $200,000 and expensive homes exceeding $1 million.

"The findings … are based on a six-part formula to assess relative influence. The analysis of U.S. Census Bureau’s 2008 American Community Survey focuses on 420 cities, incorporated towns and unincorporated urban areas with populations above 75,000," the Web site said in a statement.

California had six cities listed in the top 10. Mountain View and Thousand Oaks, captured the sixth and seventh places. Sunnyvale trailed closely behind at 10, while Sandy Springs in Georgia ranked ninth.

Newport Beach had a wealth score of 22.7 and 28.6 percent of households with incomes of $200,000.

Reading, Penn., came in last in the list. Camden, N.J., Flint, Mich., and Brownsville, Texas, were also at the bottom of the pack, along with Detroit and Gary, Ind.