Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think a better way to gauge this list would be to defer to the 100 highest income places with a population of at least 1,000 households. For instance, the Rex NC example, there are only 17 homes.
yeah I'm with you on that! the 3rd most wealthiest city in Wisconsin is a town of only 5 people....they probably all live in the same house
I think there are a variety of factors, when it comes to considering why one metro has a cheaper cost per square foot on a house, than does another. Certainly, I agree with Rachael in one regard: supply and demand is undoubtably a factor. Extending her premise to upstate New York, where housing is amongst the cheapest in the country, there is undeniably a net outflow of population in metros such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo, as well as tertiary cities such as Elmira and Jamestown. You can pretty much extend that rationale to central Pennsylvania (Altoona, Johnstown) as well as Eastern Ohio, with Youngstown, Akron, Canton, etc.
However, there is another factor that might not have been addressed, and that involves how governmental policy can directly impact the cost of housing. For instance, I live on the border of New Mexico and Texas. (Las Cruces NM and El Paso TX) The cost of housing in El Paso per square foot is lower than is a comparable home in Las Cruces. Why? Because of punitive taxation policies in New Mexico that force the cost of housing per square foot to be higher. In this case, it involves the gross receipts tax. A developer, a home builder, the construction companies that sell the materials for the houses, are all impacted by costs associated with this tax. As business people, they will not be inclined to absorb this cost, but rather, pass it onto the consumer. As a result, the cost of home across the border on the New Mexico side is about 25% higher on average. The economies of both places are comparable, however, state taxation policy plays a major role in how costs are impacted. Similarly, consider environmental regulations on a state, county or even local level, and how builders might be forced to comply. I am talking about factors such as stormwater runoff, pollutants associated with it, and how a new housing development might be forced to comply with these regulations. Once again, the developer and the builder will pass these costs on to the consumer. Land availability is yet another factor. The greater Atlanta metro, it would seem to me, would still have an advantage with regard to less expensive land, where as Nassau and Suffolk (as well as Westchester) counties are largely built out, and infill is the only recourse with regard to future construction. This, too, would similarly impact cost per square foot.
Over 2 dozen posts above were deleted. Reminder: Stay on topic. Attempts to hi-jack threads by switching topics or going off topic will be deleted and infractions issued. This is not a chat room - when people hi-jack threads by posting messages that are of interest to only few people, the threads often stop being useful discussions of initial topics.
Here's the original topic. Trashing other members' posts is not part of the original topic, nor is it helpful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milwaukee City
Just out of curiosity what is the wealthiest city in your state? In Wisconsin it's River Hills which is a suburb of Milwaukee.
River Hills, WI Population 1,600.
Median household income $200,000.
Per Capita Income $110,000.
Average home cost $900,000.
13% of residents are foreign born.
Yeah, but Alpine has only 2,000 people. I think the limit should be 10,000, and that median household income should be used instead of home prices, per capita income, how many cars you have etc.
Here are the top-earning towns according to CNN/Money (2008) with population and median family income (pop. bolded so it will look less jumbled):
1. New Canaan, CT 19,690 $231,138
2. Darien, CT 20,209 $218,130
3. Lake Forest, IL 21,320 $212,122
4. Saratoga, CA 30,045 $196,420
5. Westport, CT 26,218 $193,540
6. Los Altos, CA 27,483 $189,839
7. Potomac, MD 46,662 $183,258
8. McLean, VA 40,715 $180,103
9. Wellesley, MA 26,113 $172,900
10. University Park, TX 24,182 $170,150
11. Bethesda, MD 59,066 $167,043
12. Southlake, TX 25,748 $166,878
13. Danville, CA 41,540 $160,560
14. Greenwich, CT 62,751 $157,232
15. Ridgewood, NJ 24,639 $153,436
16. Manhattan Beach, CA 36,665 $151,258
17. La Canada Flintridge, CA 20,989 $150,985
18. Bloomfield Township, MI 42,650 $150,969
19. Los Gatos, CA 28,366 $150,556
20. Wilmette, IL 26,737 $149,667
21. Lafayette, CA 24,877 $149,597
22. Dranesville, VA 112,378 $149,294 (note: this is an extremely inflated pop.)
23. Deerfield, IL 19,664 $148,612
24. Highland Park, IL 31,614 $148,131
25. Garden City, NY 21,811 $147,804
California clearly dominates with 7 towns, followed by Connecticut with 4.
Yeah, but Alpine has only 2,000 people. I think the limit should be 10,000, and that median household income should be used instead of home prices, per capita income, how many cars you have etc.
Here are the top-earning towns according to CNN/Money (2008) with population and median family income (pop. bolded so it will look less jumbled):
1. New Canaan, CT 19,690 $231,138
2. Darien, CT 20,209 $218,130
3. Lake Forest, IL 21,320 $212,122
4. Saratoga, CA 30,045 $196,420
5. Westport, CT 26,218 $193,540
6. Los Altos, CA 27,483 $189,839
7. Potomac, MD 46,662 $183,258
8. McLean, VA 40,715 $180,103
9. Wellesley, MA 26,113 $172,900
10. University Park, TX 24,182 $170,150
11. Bethesda, MD 59,066 $167,043
12. Southlake, TX 25,748 $166,878
13. Danville, CA 41,540 $160,560
14. Greenwich, CT 62,751 $157,232
15. Ridgewood, NJ 24,639 $153,436
16. Manhattan Beach, CA 36,665 $151,258
17. La Canada Flintridge, CA 20,989 $150,985
18. Bloomfield Township, MI 42,650 $150,969
19. Los Gatos, CA 28,366 $150,556
20. Wilmette, IL 26,737 $149,667
21. Lafayette, CA 24,877 $149,597
22. Dranesville, VA 112,378 $149,294 (note: this is an extremely inflated pop.)
23. Deerfield, IL 19,664 $148,612
24. Highland Park, IL 31,614 $148,131
25. Garden City, NY 21,811 $147,804
California clearly dominates with 7 towns, followed by Connecticut with 4.
Actually, in GA zip codes are a better indicator of where the wealth is than cities, since many of these neighborhoods are either a) part of the city of Atlanta, or b) unincorporated.
Interestingly, the highest average income in a GA zip code is not in the metro Atlanta area. It's zip code 31561...Sea Island. Zip code 30327 (Buckhead) is second.
Wealth measured how? Net worth? Household income? Per-capita income? Home values per dwelling unit? Home values per square foot? Real estate values per lot size?
By any of these metrics, if I had to guess without looking, in Illinois I'd say it's either Bannockburn or Kennilworth.
Drover I know where Kenilworth is...but where is Babbockburn?
EDIT: In interest of staying on topic ( just saw Mod's post), Kenilworth's median income is just under 230k. There is a lot of old money there though. I think that is probably the wealthiest town in Illinois. Just need to do something about those Lakefront homes because they're nothing compared to the ones a little bit to the north.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.