bill gates topped the list with a net worth of $54 billion. the list also shows that the rich are in fact getting even richer. abc business news editor dan arnall looks at the trend. reporter: the faces are familiar. bill gates. warren buffett. these are america s wealthiest people. topping the famous forbes 400 list of the richest americans again this year. even with the slowly recovering economy, the amount of money it takes to be amongst the 400 has gone up. 2008, the cut-off was $1.3 billion. last year $950 million. this year up a bit to $1 billion. it s at least moving up. we ll take that. reporter: this year s list of 400 are collectively worth $1.4 trillion. an average of more than $3 billion apiece. bill gates is number one again with a fortune of $54 billion. warren buffett, sharing the cover of this year s magazine with music megastar jay-z, is number two with $45 billion in
its annual list of the 400 wealthiest people in america. bill gates topped the list with a net worth of $54 billion. the list also shows that the rich are in fact getting even richer. abc business news editor dan arnall looks at the trend. reporter: the faces are familiar. bill gates. warren buffett. these are america s wealthiest people. topping the famous forbes 400 list of the richest americans again this year. even with the slowly recovering economy, the amount of money it takes to be amongst the 400 has gone up. 2008, the cut-off was $1.3 billion. last year $950 million. this year up a bit to $1 billion. it s at least moving up. we ll take that. reporter: this year s list of 400 are collectively worth $1.4 trillion. an average of more than $3 billion apiece. bill gates is number one again with a fortune of $54 billion. warren buffett, sharing the cover of this year s magazine with music megastar jay-z, is number two with $45 billion in the bank.
might be the key to being at the top of the list. for individuals, lowering outstanding balances, clearing errors on your credit record, and paying your bills on time are the biggest factors in bringing your credit score higher. dan arnall, abc news, new york. i once learned the hard way in college, below 600 you re not doing too good. 640 or above you re pretty solid. 690 or above you re excellent. the average person has at least one mistake on their credit score report and they may not even know about it because it could be false information. then they encourage you to run a credit score on yourself just to find out what s on there about you. better to know than not to know. pay attention to the new credit card laws that went into effect. the tea party past and present. today s grassroots movement and how it got so linked to the past.
dan arnall. reporter: for millions of americans, a credit score is key to getting the things they want. a new car. a new home. even everyday items they pay for with a credit card. now your credit score can also help you keep up with the joneses. credit giant experian published a list of average credit scores for consumers in american cities. at livecreditsmart.com. a credit score is a reflection of the risk in your credit report. so if you get your score, then you ll better understand how lenders are going to view your risks. reporter: the top cities are in the midwest. minneapolis, madison, green bay, wisconsin, cedar rapids, iowa, all having better than average credit. the cities with the worst scores include harlingen and corpus christi, texas, and jackson, mississippi. in areas where you have foreclosures those individuals are going to be hard-hit. reporter: average credit scores are affected by many factors. when it comes to cities, lower than average unemployment rates
the bank. both buffett and gates are using the list as a recruitment tool for their giving pledge billionaire philanthropy effort, targeting the wealthiest americans to donate at least half their fortune during their lifetimes. so getting on this exclusive list might get you a charity call from one of these two money celebrities. since this list first came out back in 1982, i guarantee you almost every development office in the country for colleges, universities, hospitals, whatever other cause, has looked at that list and said, is there a prospect here? reporter: 16 new names appear on the list in 2010. and 217 of the 400 billionaires on the forbes list saw their fortunes go up in value in the past year. dan arnall, abc news, new york. the biggest gainer on the list was mark zuckerberg, the guy from facebook, $6.9 million. what surprised me, though, is