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Top 10 US Counties by Median Household Income, 2019
$151,800 Loudoun, VA
$138,500 San Mateo, CA
$133,076 Santa Clara, CA
$128,374 Fairfax, VA
$123,859 San Francisco, CA
$122,867 Douglas, CO
$121,618 Howard, MD
$119,755 Arlington, VA
$118,453 Nassau, NY
$116,283 Morris, NJ
Since we are talking about wealthy suburban cities. I personally think the best two on this list is D.C and Dallas when all factors are accounted for, and Dallas wins just based on affordability alone.
Since no one's highlighted, Houston which has arguably the best mix of wealthy and diverse out of this list, I'll highlight some of the premier suburban zip codes and cities by wealth and diversity. Their all likely affordable except the elite burbs, since Houston is likely the most affordable city 5,000,000+ population wise. Sugar Land and The Woodlands might be expensive enough to be considered less affordable but I doubt that.
Elite Suburbs
West University Place- Median Household Income- $250,000 Population- 16,000
Demographics- 77% White, 11% Asian, 9% Hispanic, 1% Black
Southside Place- Median Household Income- $211,000 Population- 2,000
Demographics- 72% White, 15% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 1% Black
Bellaire- Median Household Income- $201,000 Population- 19,000
Demographics- 65% White, 23% Asian, 8% Hispanic, 3% Black
These 3 border each other on the SW Side of the Inner Loop and offer an urban-ish environment and relatively high density for suburban areas, as they're houses built on a relative tight grid, and border some of the densest parts of Houston, on nearly all sides. Descent diversity, numbers for super-rich especially when it comes to Hispanic folks but nothing crazy. Recently been trending pretty liberal which is really weird for any plurality white community in Houston.
The Memorial Villages- Median Household Income- $217,000, Population- 20,000
Demographics- 76% White, 11% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 1% Black
6 different villages that are relatively tiny. The lower 3 have more people and are all in the 250,000+ status so technically the median income is higher, same as West University Place, but the census for whatever reason caps estimates at 250,000 for median household income. I have no clue why honestly. These villages are much more stereotypically suburban, non of the towns can be considered dense by any stretch of the imagination. Hedwig is upper middle class and diverse, as well as Hilshire which is also diverse but borderline wealthy. On the other hand Spring Valley and Hunter's Creek are the least diverse. Hunters Creek and Bunker Hill are the wealthiest of the Villages as they have median home prices of 1.6 million and 1.8 million respectively. This area real demographics were hard to calculate as a result I decided against putting individual information for these towns rather than general info as one apartment would revolutionize the majority of these towns demographics.
Upper Middle Class Havens, large regions or suburbs with over $100,000 median household income. For the bigger suburbs I used their best zip codes which are still absolutely massive so felt like I could use them for impromptu suburbs. A few suburban zips just missed out but will probably make it by the 2020 Census.
77441 (Fulshear)- Median Household Income- $167,000 Population- 11,000
Demographics- 69% White, 13% Hispanic, 10% Asian, 5% Black (Was significantly blacker and more Hispanic but gained a white majority after suburban development took off here with the population of Fulshear increasing by 1000% since 2010, I live less than a mile from the border of this zip code and mine)
77494 (Katy)- Median Household Income- $140,000 Population- 115,000
Demographics- 48% White, 22% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 8% Black (My Zip Code, was slightly blacker but immigrant growth has made it much more Hispanic and Asian in recent years)
77479 (Sugar Land)- Median Household Income- $139,000 Population- 92,000
Demographics- 43% Asian, 39% White, 10% Hispanic, 7% Black
77382 (The Woodlands)- Median Household Income- $134,000 Population- 40,000
Demographics- 71% White, 17% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 5% Black
77389 (The Woodlands)-Median Household Income- $126,000 Population- 35,000
Demographics- 60% White, 26% Hispanic, 5% Black, 4% Asian
77406 (Richmond)- Median Household Income- $117,000 Population- 47,000
Demographics- 56% White, 23% Hispanic, 10% Black, 8% Asian
77381 (The Woodlands)- Median Household Income- $111,000 Population- 37,000
Demographics- 79% White, 13% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 2% Black (by a pretty large margin the least diverse suburban zip code in Houston, even less diverse than the two groups of Elite neighborhoods (Memorial Villages and West U/Bellaire.)
77433 (Cypress)- Median Household Income- $109,000 Population- 82,000
Demographics- 43% White, 27% Hispanic, 16% Black, 11% Asian (Underrated suburban zip code, once Bridgeland get's built out this place will be as popular as Katy/Sugar Land/The Woodlands. Adds a lot to the Cypress area)
77386 (Spring)- Median Household Income- $108,000 Population- 55,000
Demographics- 61% White, 21% Hispanic, 10% Black, 5% Asian
77459 (Missouri City)- Median Household Income- $108,000 Population- 70,000
Demographics- 36% White, 25% Black, 23% Asian, 12% Hispanic (Likely 2nd most diverse zip code that could be considered wealthy)
77429 (Cypress)- Median Household Income- $107,000 Population- 88,000
Demographics- 61% White, 19% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 8% Black (beautiful houses abound here, very country feel on the outskirts imho, more than most parts of Houston)
77584 (Pearland)- Median Household Income- $106,000 Population- 88,000
Demographics- 37% White, 22% Black, 20% Hispanic, 17% Asian (Likely the most diverse suburban zip code)
77573 (League City)- Median Household Income- $106,000 Population- 87,000
Demographics- 66% White, 20% Hispanic, 7% Black, 5% Asian
77346 (Atascocita)- Median Household Income- $103,000 Population- 66,000
Demographics- 51% White, 26% Hispanic, 17% Black, 3% Asian (Honestly if someone told me to guess which cities would have made the list, this city wouldn't have made my shortlist. I haven't head anything negative about it or positive about it, in fact the only time it's brought up in conversation is pronouncing it's name.)
77523 (Mont Belvieu)- Median Household Income- $102,000 Population- 22,000
Demographics- 66% White, 25% Hispanic, 7% Black, 1% Asian
77379 (Klein)- Median Household Income- $102,000 Population- 80,000
Demographics- 61% White, 17% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 9% Black
77578 (Manvel)- Median Household Income- $100,000 Population- 20,000
Demographics- 42% White, 25% Hispanic, 22% Black, 10% Asian
77546 (Friendswood)- Median Household Income- $100,000 Population- 53,000
Demographics- 66% White, 17% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 5% Black
Clear Lake and Kingwood are suburban areas with the 3rd and 5th zip codes in terms of wealth respectively but were discounted since their both technically in Houston City limits. Also since I'm using zip codes, some rich areas that covers a third or half a zip code could get grouped in with poorer areas, especially in the really large zip codes but overall, I think the ones chosen are representative of suburban Houston.
Last edited by NigerianNightmare; 10-31-2020 at 02:32 AM..
Yet, DC's suburbs have more office space than all US cities except NYC. 6 of the top ten richest counties are in the DC area and the burbs are connected by subway. But carry on.
This was the original post that got us started on the whole MSA-vs.-CSA argument. Note that the OP didn't specify which, so I'd say that Howard County counts, as Baltimore's and Washington's suburbs blur together.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NigerianNightmare
Since we are talking about wealthy suburban cities. I personally think the best two on this list is D.C and Dallas when all factors are accounted for, and Dallas wins just based on affordability alone.
Since no one's highlighted, Houston which has arguably the best mix of wealthy and diverse out of this list, I'll highlight some of the premier suburban zip codes and cities by wealth and diversity. Their all likely affordable except the elite burbs, since Houston is likely the most affordable city 5,000,000+ population wise. Sugar Land and The Woodlands might be expensive enough to be considered less affordable but I doubt that.
(list and descriptions snipped; I'd love to see where these communities are located on a map of Metro Houston. I do know where League City is, as that's where the hotel for the last Daviss family reunion was located; most of my Mom's family live in and around Houston. League City itself has some of that old-timey charm about its center, but the area around it doesn't strike me as all that ritzy in appearance, and nearby Pasadena* is from what I understand an industrial suburb; you usually don't find affluent suburbs and industrial ones in close proximity)
Clear Lake and Kingwood are suburban areas with the 3rd and 5th zip codes in terms of wealth respectively but were discounted since their both technically in Houston City limits. Also since I'm using zip codes, some rich areas that covers a third or half a zip code could get grouped in with poorer areas, especially in the really large zip codes but overall, I think the ones chosen are representative of suburban Houston.
I was surprised by how much I liked Houston when I visited it for that family reunion. The various races and ethnicities mix there with an ease and casualness I don't see in any other large US city. One of my cousins who I had met before the reunion when she made a swing through the Northeast to visit another relative lives in a gated community north of the city off the George Bush Turnpike (Beltway 8), a little to the east of where US 59 crosses it; would that be one of those ZIP codes you listed?
*After having to dust off my slalom-driving skills driving from Bush Intercontinental Airport to the hotel, and looking at traffic, the sprawl and the palm trees, I came to the conclusion that Houston is Texas' answer to Los Angeles. The presence of a suburb named Pasadena only reinforces this impression. It's also the only other city I've ever driven in where the freeways are full of bumper-to-bumper traffic, all of it doing 70 (Texas speed limit signs, from what I can tell, are merely advisory; there's a big downside risk to this sort of traffic, and I witnessed it twice while there: one horrific wreck on southbound I-45 that my GPS routed me around (traffic was backed up for 2 miles behind it), making me thankful that the Texas DOT routinely builds freeways with frontage roads on both sides of them, and another on the main road past the development where my hotel sat — I was walking from it to a nearby supermarket, something I don't think the locals do all that often, and came across a totally wrecked car facing east in the westbound traffic lanes of the main thoroughfare).
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so DC has 4 of the top 10 counties.
