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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.
I was looking up this data on Census (B19121) and one of the most interesting thing I saw was that 2-earner family in New York Co (Manhattan) has a higher median than family with 3+ earners ($157,702). New York Co 2-earners families are also much more well off in general as NY Co is only #107 overall in median family income, but shot way up the chart for 2-earner families.
Via some additional searches SF Co and DC proper is also the same way - perhaps b/c those that can afford to live in the urban proper with only 2 incomes are probably both working at very high paying jobs, while those family with 3+ incomes tend to be scrapping by having so many people working in a family?
Then there's Bastrop County (Mainly suburb of Austin)...the only county on the list where 2-earners family earn less than single earner family by median income.
I was looking up this data on Census (B19121) and one of the most interesting thing I saw was that 2-earner family in New York Co (Manhattan) has a higher median than family with 3+ earners ($157,702).
Yeah this is the case in many areas.
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The data seems to be somewhat incomplete, though, as not all counties were listed. The big one are all on there but some small counties are missing.
1-year estimates don't include all cities and counties, only the 5-year estimates do.
1-year estimates don't include all cities and counties, only the 5-year estimates do.
That explains it...I wasn't aware of that. Personally I've been using 2016-2020 ACS 5-year data for a long, long time.
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Originally Posted by BigCity76
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.
The concentration of uber wealth is also why MEDIAN, instead of Average, is usually used as the "standard" for determining how wealthy (in general) an area (i.e. county or MSA...you can go to small areas like PUMAs or ZIP also) is, as extreme wealth can skew the average (mean).
And yes, for DMV it's all about the fact overall salary is very high with lots of professional jobs related to the gov't. Even PGC which ranks low in the DMV has a median income (~90k) well above national median and higher than many places in the country. (Yes, I know about the ITB vs. OTB divide...)
I was looking up this data on Census (B19121) and one of the most interesting thing I saw was that 2-earner family in New York Co (Manhattan) has a higher median than family with 3+ earners ($157,702). New York Co 2-earners families are also much more well off in general as NY Co is only #107 overall in median family income, but shot way up the chart for 2-earner families.
Via some additional searches SF Co and DC proper is also the same way - perhaps b/c those that can afford to live in the urban proper with only 2 incomes are probably both working at very high paying jobs, while those family with 3+ incomes tend to be scrapping by having so many people working in a family?
Then there's Bastrop County (Mainly suburb of Austin)...the only county on the list where 2-earners family earn less than single earner family by median income.
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
But the wealthiest MD county, where I am from, Howard County is technically affiliated with Baltimore. Although some of the suburbs lean DC or are split evenly between the two.
Surprised Montgomery county MD fell out of the top 20 considering how much wealth it has.
It is not surprising to me. When I am back in the DC area, it is surprising to me how run down many parts of Montgomery County look and feel, in contrast to how well-maintained Howard County (and Fairfax County) are. MoCo has pockets of wealth but it is no longer a premier county like it was in the late 90s/ early 2000s. It no longer looks or feels like a wealthy county the way it once did. It’s not surprising to me it’s outside of the top 20.
Median Family Income, regardless of number of earners: (Top 50)
1. Arlington VA $172,122
2. Loudoun VA $168,681
3. Marin CA $165,271
4. Santa Clara CA $161,586
5. Fairfax VA $159,645
6. San Mateo CA $157,287
7. Howard MD $152,247
8. Somerset NJ $151,694
9. San Francisco CA $150,429
10. Morris NJ $149,276
11. Nassau NY $148,460
12. Douglas CO $147,897
13. Norfolk MA $146,764
14. Middlesex MA $145,784
15. Hunterdon NJ $144,737
16. Westchester NY $143,191
17. Williamson TN $141,064
18. Calvert MD $140,970
19. Monmouth NJ $140,606
20. Alexandria VA $139,944
21. Montgomery MD $139,174
22. King WA $138,465
23. Alameda CA $136,940
24. Washington DC $136,184
25. Delaware OH $143,543
26. Suffolk NY $132,580
27. Putnam NY $131,991
28. Bergen NJ $130,460
29. Rockwall TX $130,330
30. Prince William VA $130,212
31. Chester PA $130,144
32. Broomfield CO $129,412
33. Stafford VA $129,327
34. Forsyth GA $128,963
35. Hamilton IN $128,699
36. Boulder CO $128,485
37. Montgomery PA $127,399
38. Fairfield CT $127,281
39. Contra Costa CA $127,209
40. St. Mary's MD $127,098
41. Oldham KY $126,113
42. Frederick MD $125,767
43. Fauquier VA $125,664
44. Anne Arundel $125,459
45. Albemarle VA $125,384
46. San Benito CA $125,002
47. Rockingham NH $124,626
48. Bucks PA $123,970
49. Craver MN $123,553
50. Plymouth MA $122,782
Some of the more noticeable difference between this and the MHI is that places with large college student population tends to have much lower MHI but higher median family income. DC, Boulder Co, and Albemarle Co VA (Charlottesville, home of UVA) are counties that are not in Top 50 (in fact MHI for all three are below $100k) but are in Top 50 in this ranking.
At the end, though, DC, SF Bay Area, and NYC follow by Boston still dominates this list.
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Originally Posted by personone
But the wealthiest MD county, where I am from, Howard County is technically affiliated with Baltimore. Although some of the suburbs lean DC or are split evenly between the two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by personone
It is not surprising to me. When I am back in the DC area, it is surprising to me how run down many parts of Montgomery County look and feel, in contrast to how well-maintained Howard County (and Fairfax County) are. MoCo has pockets of wealth but it is no longer a premier county like it was in the late 90s/ early 2000s. It no longer looks or feels like a wealthy county the way it once did. It’s not surprising to me it’s outside of the top 20.
Quite frankly even Baltimore suburbs are fairly wealthy. Baltimore city itself is another story, though.
As for MoCo - it's still up there in #24 in MHI...but you're correct that it's a fall from grace from consistently being in Top 10. The crazy thing is that FFX Co and MoCo are basically built-up at similar time frame, yet MoCo just look tired and is on a downhill slope while most of FFX Co is still keeping up.
Even schools MoCo IMHO is declining. For all the talks about the few schools that always top national rankings (The 4 W's aka Winston Churchill/Thomas Wootton/Whitman/Walter Johnson + BCC) everywhere else things are going downhill. Meanwhile HoCo schools keep moving upward.
But the wealthiest MD county, where I am from, Howard County is technically affiliated with Baltimore. Although some of the suburbs lean DC or are split evenly between the two.
I think that Howard County's position between Baltimore and Washington is part of the reason why it's so wealthy. Two-income households where one person works in DC and the other works in Baltimore (such as my household) will naturally gravitate to this centrally located county. The fact that the school system has such a good reputation attracts higher income people as well, which then feeds on itself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by personone
It is not surprising to me. When I am back in the DC area, it is surprising to me how run down many parts of Montgomery County look and feel, in contrast to how well-maintained Howard County (and Fairfax County) are. MoCo has pockets of wealth but it is no longer a premier county like it was in the late 90s/ early 2000s. It no longer looks or feels like a wealthy county the way it once did. It’s not surprising to me it’s outside of the top 20.
Openly proclaiming yourself a "sanctuary county" and inviting in a bunch of low-income Third Worlders will do that to you.
They meant highest income counties, not richest. Richest has nothing to do with income. Wealthy people don't always have high incomes and people with high incomes often live paycheck to paycheck.
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