2021 Wealthiest Counties (schools, college, high income)
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If I make $100 and 20% goes to taxes and my brother
Makes $90 and 8% goes to taxes
I'm I more wealthy than my brother.
Complicating things further. My higher taxes mean there are things that are free or cost less to me than to my brother. Who is wealthier now?
I make more than him, but he takes home more, but he pays more for non-equity expenses...let's say public transit.
The census should know better than publishing data in an oversimplified manner. I don't think it's accurate that Loudoun County is the wealthiest in the country.
Maybe this will help more. This is the 10 richest counties when adjusted for cost of living. Loudoun County is still #1.
1. Loudoun County, Va.
2. Stafford County, Va.
3. Forsyth County, Ga.
4. Fairfax County, Va.
5. Douglas County, Co.
6. Delaware County, Oh.
7. Prince William County, Va.
8. Los Alamos County, Nm.
9. Fort Bend County, Tx.
10. Williamson County, Tn.
The census should know better than publishing data in an oversimplified manner. I don't think it's accurate that Loudoun County is the wealthiest in the country.
Didn't remember 100% but I did recall some studies that incorporate COL into the equation, and Loudoun Co still comes out on top just b/c how far ahead it is against everyone else. Most of the other counties with high MHI are also in high COL area (including tax) which makes the difference more moot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjbradleynyc
The top 20 by state:
Virginia 5
California 4
New Jersey 3
Maryland 2
Ohio 1
Georgia 1
Tennessee 1
New York 1
Texas 1
Colorado 1
Surprises:
*Connecticut, Washington, Massachusetts not in the top 20
*Virginia is a deeply wealthy area in the DC suburbs--as-is Maryland
*California, I would've thought, should have more representation in the top 20, but wealth is being more distributed
*The west and the south showing up well with Colorado (Denver metro), Texas (Dallas metro), Georgia (Atlanta metro) and Tennessee (Nashville metro)
*Despite the perception of some about New Jersey nationally, it is a wealthy state in many Jersey suburbs of NYC
For California - it has to do with the fact that their counties are VERY large geographically. LA County, for example, has very wealthy areas but also poor areas. Even O.C. (which has a higher median) has areas that has lower MHI (i.e. Santa Ana).
Meanwhile the counties near SF are smaller geographically which is why they always make top median MHI list.
For CT - the county with highest MHI is Fairfield Co (No surprise) at $100,810. That put it at #52. CT in general is just very unequal...
For Maryland it's not really just DC suburbs. Multiple Baltimore suburbs (at least in Baltimore MSA) also has MHI >100k:
Howard $133,267 (#4)
Anne Arundel $107,823 (#34)
Carroll $102,476 (#46)
(Harford $96,328) (#68)
(Baltimore Co $80,453) (#187)
(Baltimore city $54,652)
For NoVA/MD DC Suburbs:
Loudoun VA $153,506 (#1)
FFX Co VA $134,115 (#3)
Arlington VA $125,651 (#8)
Calvert MD $122,266 (#11)
Prince William VA $118,117 (#17)
Stafford VA $117,251 (#19)
Montgomery MD $112,854 (#23)
Fauquier VA $108,497 (#31)
St. Mary's MD $108,397 (#32) [Technically this is Lexington Park MSA...I'll throw it in]
Charles MD $105,493 (#38)
Frederick MD $104,780 (#41)
Spotsylvania VA $101,289 (#50)
Alexandria VA $101,162 (#51)
(Prince George's MD $90,182) (#109)
(Washington DC $90,088) (#111)
----------
Side note:
Seattle:
King Co $110,586 (#27)
Snohomish $100,042 (#56)
Boston:
Norfolk Co $115,357 (#21)
Middlesex Co $112,764 (#24)
Plymouth Co $100,082 (#55)
(Essex $87,433) (#124)
(Suffolk $78,155) (#219)
So MA and WA are up there...just barely didn't make it into Top 20.
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One final note, I actually went through the raw data and seems like a bunch of counties with smaller population is missing. Los Alamos Co NM, for example, doesn't have any data, nor places like Falls Church city / Fairfax city which were always outliers in MHI statistics.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LINative
Not blaming Virginia or Maryland but the incredible economic growth of the DC area is really a sign of how much wealth the Federal government - or any national government (look at other countries) - is taking from other parts of the country.
How do you explain Boston or SF Bay Area, though?
And the largest expenditures by far for the federal gov't (DOD) is spread out pretty much all across the country.
This seems to indicate a continuing trend where big government (DC) and big tech (Bay Area) are outstripping other MSAs in the growing maldistribution and concentration of wealth.
Also revealatory is the scatterplot on page 6 of 9 in the provided census PDF link, that shows San Francisco and DC way out in front of other major metropolitan statistical areas.
I have been following this stat from the exact same source instead because I feel like it most realistically describes the working family in these counties.
Median Income, 2-Earner Families, 2021:
San Francisco, CA $225,209
Marin, CA $219,855
Santa Clara, CA $218,221
Arlington, VA $217,128
Washington, DC $210,935
San Mateo, CA $208,417
Loudoun, VA $198,978
Fairfax, VA $193,756
New York, NY $191,205
Norfolk, MA $184,936
Alameda, CA $183,959
Alexandria, VA $180,851
Howard, MD $177,583
Nassau, NY $177,437
Middlesex, MA $176,590
Montgomery, MD $175,994
Somerset, NJ $173,639
Westchester, NY $171,702
King, WA $170,979
Morris, NJ $170,882
Contra Costa, CA $166,783
Williamson, TN $165,466
Hunterdon, NJ $165,046
Douglas, CO $164,674
Carver, MN $161,783
St Mary's, MD $161,071
Boulder, CO $161,068
Monmouth, NJ $160,734
Bergen, NJ $160,644
Fairfield, CT $158,387
Forsyth, GA $157,807
Putnam, NY $157,309
Placer, CA $156,512
Fauquier, VA $156,443
Oldham, KY $152,795
Delaware, OH $152,778
Suffolk, NY $152,775
Montgomery, MD $152,559
Calvert, MD $152,058
Broomfield, CO $151,017
Hamilton, IN $150,824
St Johns, FL $150,241
Median HH Income is all-encompassing, but sometimes I find it disingenuous to use Median HHI for something like mortgage affordability because it's not every hh looking to buy, but usually couples and families. Anyhow.
Just for reference this poll means that ON AVERAGE these are the richest counties in the US. It doesn't mean these are the richest areas of the country or the highest concentrations of uber wealth. Those are two different talking points.
Otherwise in the NYC Metro alone you would see Bergen (NJ), a few towns in western Essex county (NJ), Westchester (NY) and Fairfield (CT) which all have a myriad of the richest towns in the country (a good deal more than the DMV which would be obvious given the sheer scale difference).
The reason the DMV is so strong is because the Fed Gov. It provides the strongest economic floor in the country due to so many Gov related jobs. It's not that you will have the most bling, bling crazy people there (and there are several uber wealthy burbs there with McLean, Great Falls, Potomac and the rest) but it's rather that it provides a "safety net" for the average person better than any other metro in the country IMO. Not knocking NOVA because it's been my home away from home for a long time and it's up there, but knowing the area so well it just doesn't have the same amount of crazy celebrity type wealth that these aforementioned counties have.
Metro Areas(MSAs) by Median Household Income, 2021
$80,000+
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA $139,892
San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA $116,005
Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-VA-MD $110,355
California-Lexington Park, MD $108,398
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $101,721
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT $100,810
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA $100,750
Napa, CA $97,213
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA $94,295
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA $93,933
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA $91,003
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA $90,454
Manchester-Nashua, NH $91,627
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO $90,716
Honolulu, HI $90,704
Boulder, CO $90,168
Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY $89,033
Vallejo, CA $87,770
Trenton-Princeton, NJ $87,662
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington, MN $87,433
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA $87,314
Provo-Orem, UT $86, 629
Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX $86,530
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD $86,302
Raleigh-Cary, NC $85,303
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA $84,846
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA $84,421
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA $84,409
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA $83,943
Barnstable Town, MA $83,537
Greeley, CO $85,290
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA $82,503
Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT $82,258
Salinas-CA $82,163
Burlington-South Burlington, VT $81,852
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA $81,659
Ogden-Clearfield, UT $81,364
Salt Lake City, UT $81,307
Stockton, CA $80,681
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA $80,615
Midland, TX $80,478
Rochester, MN $80,434
Philadephia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE $80,007
Maybe this will help more. This is the 10 richest counties when adjusted for cost of living. Loudoun County is still #1.
1. Loudoun County, Va.
2. Stafford County, Va.
3. Forsyth County, Ga.
4. Fairfax County, Va.
5. Douglas County, Co.
6. Delaware County, Oh.
7. Prince William County, Va.
8. Los Alamos County, Nm.
9. Fort Bend County, Tx.
10. Williamson County, Tn.
Didn't remember 100% but I did recall some studies that incorporate COL into the equation, and Loudoun Co still comes out on top just b/c how far ahead it is against everyone else. Most of the other counties with high MHI are also in high COL area (including tax) which makes the difference more moot.
The two of you missed the point.
The point wasn't that the data doesn't account for taxes.
The point was the census oversimplified the data by not accounting for MANY things.
At best the data shows which counties does middle class best. It does not show which are the wealthiest.
The wealthiest is the one which collectively has the most money. Potential earnings are just one factor in that.
The highest paid CEO isn't necessarily the wealthiest. Describing the highest paid as the wealthiest is an oversimplification if not a lie.
Boston being one of the wealthiest, but not having any counties in the top 20 is a rather good thing. It shows there is more socioeconomic diversity at a county level.
Despite being the wealthiest MSA in the country, the SF MSA had the largest percentage decline in incomes among all MSAs from 2019-21. That really surprises me, given the relatively low percentage of service-industry jobs here, which were hardest hit during COVID. All I can conclude is that the narrative about working-class people being the ones fleeing the area is largely wrong, and it's actually higher-income households.
Despite being the wealthiest MSA in the country, the SF MSA had the largest percentage decline in incomes among all MSAs from 2019-21. That really surprises me, given the relatively low percentage of service-industry jobs here, which were hardest hit during COVID. All I can conclude is that the narrative about working-class people being the ones fleeing the area is largely wrong, and it's actually higher-income households.
San Jose is the wealthiest MSA.
The SF MSA didnt have a percentage decline in Median Income, but the city itself did. Also, I think it's been high earning singles and middle class households affecting negative change, likely remote tech workers who are leaving, because the only 2 MSA counties to experience a decline in median hh income are SF and SM.
Median Household Income:
County------------------2019--------2021
Alameda----------$108,322---$109,720
Contra Costa------$107,135--$111,080
Marin--------------$110,843--$118,209
San Francisco-----$123,859--$121,826
San Mateo--------$138,500--$131,796
SF MSA------------$114,696--$116,005
Remember, this^ stat covers every single kind of household, including households of 1, and as you know the SF MSA experienced a population drop from 2019 to 2021, many left during the pandemic, it was covered extensively in the media.
On the other hand, when we look at dual-income families, median incomes for them are actually soaring:
Median Income, 2-Earner Families:
County-----------------2019--------2021
Alameda-----------$164,184--$183,959
Contra Costa------$152,010--$166,783
Marin--------------$186,625--$219,855
San Francisco-----$196,880--$225,209
San Mateo---------$183,522--$208,417
SF MSA------------$170,183--$190,782
So there is a lot to consider.
As far as the wealthy, this report says SF is actually among the few cities at the top of the rankings of wealthy people that are seeing their numbers grow.
2022 Year-to-date, Growth in
High Net Worth Population($1M+):
Houston +6%
Geneva +5%
San Francisco +4%
Dallas +3%
Melbourne +2%
Zurich +2%
Singapore +1%
Toronto -2%
Frankfurt -3%
Sydney -3%
Chicago -4%
Shanghai -5%
Beijing -6%
Los Angeles -6%
Tokyo -8%
London -9%
Seoul -9%
New York -12%
Paris -12%
Hong Kong -14%
MSA Median Income, 2-Earner Families, 2021:
San Jose $213,340
San Francisco $190,872
Washington $165,392
Boston $156,057
Seattle $150,268
Baltimore $141,281
New York $136,239
Denver $135,156
Minneapolis $134,006
Philadelphia $133,834
Austin $133,371
Hartford $131,696
Raleigh $130,372
San Diego $129,991
Portland $128,022
Sacramento $125,860
Chicago $124,454
Richmond $122,158
Providence $121,385
Los Angeles $119,795
Atlanta $116,260
Cincinnati $116,087
Milwaukee $117,765
Dallas 115,970
Pittsburgh $115,923
Columbus $115,343
St Louis $114,022
Detroit $113,936
Kansas City $112,436
Columbus $111,997
Houston $110,597
Cleveland $109,905
Buffalo $109,479
Rochester $109,403
Indianapolis $109,187
Virginia Beach $108,962
Phoenix $108,542
Nashville $107,085
Jacksonville $106,002
Tampa $105,502
Salt Lake City $104,975
Louisville $104,588
Birmingham $104,575
Grand Rapids $104,296
Riverside $103,405
New Orleans $102,395
San Antonio $102,208
Memphis $101,910
Tulsa $100,500
Oklahoma City $99,235
Orlando $97,996
Tucson $97,037
Fresno $95,119
Miami $94,297
Las Vegas $93,649
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