Naperville wealthier than Western Springs? (Glenview, Hinsdale: condos, attorneys, vacation home)

[UrbanQuest]

I just checked per capital income in certain towns which is said to be the most reliable indicator of a towns wealth. To my surprise Naperville was wealthier than many places that you would think as hands down in a higher class than Naperville. Some examples, and remember these numbers are from the latest stats available.

Per Capital Income;

Naperville 44,235
Western Springs 43,699
Edina, MN 44,195
Fairfield, CT 43,670
Glenview, IL 43,384
Northport, NY 43,209
Princeton, NJ 42,717 (average of both borough and township)
Thousand Oaks, CA 42,031
Scottsdale, AZ 41,819 (I included Paradise Valley along with it)
Duxbury, MA 40,242

[chet everett]

Source? I don't think the data is wrong, I'm just curious how fresh it is. The City Data figures seem to suggest that there are awful lot of folks with some very concentrated earning in WS to make up for the gap:

Estimated median household income in 2005: $105,400 (it was $98,876 in 2000)
Western Springs $105,400Illinois: $50,260
Estimated median household income in 2005: $93,338 (it was $88,771 in 2000)
Naperville $93,338

Don't you mean "per capita" income? You realize this is generally not as useful a stat as "median household income" because of the impact that MHI has on things like the affordability index. Further I suspect MANY households in a place like Western Springs are "single earner" despite the fact that there two adults heading the household and it is very likely that the stay-at-home partner also has high educational attainment. In fact most people who believe there is some massive income disparity fail to accept the reality that in households where two adults have advanced/professional degrees there is a great probability that one is not earning anything outside the home.

Household income in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[XtremeBiker278]

I'm kinda surprised more North Shore (or towns close to the North Shore for the politically correct lol) towns weren't featured, especially Winnetka or Glencoe. Then again like you said those were just some examples. Most of the towns that make it up the North Shore are regarded as some of the wealthiest towns in America. Of course, Glenview isn't hurting either lol. ;-)

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by XtremeBiker278

I'm kinda surprised more North Shore (or towns close to the North Shore for the politically correct lol) towns weren't featured, especially Winnetka or Glencoe. Then again like you said those were just some examples. Most of the towns that make it up the North Shore are regarded as some of the wealthiest towns in America. Of course, Glenview isn't hurting either lol. ;-)

It might be because of their size. Kenilworth is often left off lists because of its small size. Lots of these lists only look at cities over a certain population. Kenilworth, Winnetka & Glencoe are all fairly small, if they are only looking at cities over 10,000 (for example) all would be left off. Bannockburn and Mettawa are left off list for the same reason.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by chet everett

fail to accept the reality that in households where two adults have advanced/professional degrees there is a great probability that one is not earning anything outside the home.

I'd like to see some stats on this too if you don't mind.

[Joe107]

wealth= net worth


I bet Western Springs has much higher net worth. Western Springs has a higher % of retirees. More retirees pull median income down. Retirees are the wealthiest of all age groups (highest net worth). Somone in Western Springs may live in a 800k house, have a 400k lakehouse and a car which are all paid off. They don't need to draw a lot of income, yet they are a millionaire.

[Naperville77]

Originally Posted by UrbanQuest

I just checked per capital income in certain towns which is said to be the most reliable indicator of a towns wealth. To my surprise Naperville was wealthier than many places that you would think as hands down in a higher class than Naperville.

We're mostly accumulated wealth and not inherited wealth (my opinion) so I think it sneaks up on a lot of people. I've always said it's a byproduct of the planning we've been able to do and our infrastructure vs a lot of other towns that just haven't been able to get to where Naperville has gotten to. We also had the land to be able to spread things out more than most other towns which helps support the booming population growth we've had here since the mid to late 80's.

A lot of pride in those numbers for me.

[Naperville77]

Originally Posted by Joe107

wealth= net worth


I bet Western Springs has much higher net worth. Western Springs has a higher % of retirees. More retirees pull median income down. Retirees are the wealthiest of all age groups (highest net worth). Somone in Western Springs may live in a 800k house, have a 400k lakehouse and a car which are all paid off. They don't need to draw a lot of income, yet they are a millionaire.

Retirees? We have a ton of retirees but they mostly live in assisted living places which are all over the place in Naperville. Though I know of plenty of places (Pasquinelli condos off Rte 59 for one) where you will find a lot of retirees living on their own.

[chet everett]

If you haven't been to Western Springs the retirees that Joe107 is talking about are not in anything other than their own fully paid off single family detached homes. As a group these people have largest pile of assets. Many traders, attorneys, and executives that had good incomes, saved/invested a ton of it, paid off their homes, cars, vacation homes and are living off pensions and private Keough/401Ks.

A lot of these folks were able to 'ease into' retirement, making more as an 'emeritus partner' in their firm working 25-30 hours a week than some folks make in month. A very nice lifestyle indeed...

[Naperville77]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If you haven't been to Western Springs the retirees that Joe107 is talking about are not in anything other than their own fully paid off single family detached homes. As a group these people have largest pile of assets. Many traders, attorneys, and executives that had good incomes, saved/invested a ton of it, paid off their homes, cars, vacation homes and are living off pensions and private Keough/401Ks.

A lot of these folks were able to 'ease into' retirement, making more as an 'emeritus partner' in their firm working 25-30 hours a week than some folks make in month. A very nice lifestyle indeed...

I have been and I would've never thought it was wealthier than Naperville in a million years. I guess I'm biased though.

I should add to that it's hard to compare the two on scale. I think of Western Springs/Hinsdale/Oak Brook/Clarendon Hills/Oakbrook Terrace all as one area (I guess since Naper is so large an area it's hard not to when comparing.) I used to work right near 22nd and 83 so I spent a lot of time in that area and it's nice but I don't think any one town is fit to compare to Naper.