What's the significance of 51.9% and 67.5%? (Pittsburgh, York: 2014, chapel, houses)

[Craziaskowboi]

The former is the percentage of residents in the Pittsburgh MSA who live in Allegheny County, and the latter is the percentage of millionaires in the Pittsburgh MSA who live in Allegheny County.

So whatever happened to the mass stampede of wealthy people out of Allegheny County? They certainly have the means to live wherever they want, so how does Allegheny County still have the lion's share of millionaires in the region? And it's not just a matter of share within the metropolitan area either; millionaires are a larger percentage of Allegheny County's own population than they are of the populations of any other metropolitan county. The only county that even comes close percentage-wise is Washington County.

Just a hunch, but my guess is that most millionaires would rather be close to the action than save a few bucks by living in the sticks.

[Hopes]

More upper middle class jumped the Allegheny County border for lower taxes. Millionaires don't care. They use property taxes as write-offs on their federal taxes. And, as you said, they can afford to spend extra money to have a more convenient commute.

[snorpus]

Originally Posted by Hopes

More upper middle class jumped the Allegheny County border for lower taxes. Millionaires don't care. They use property taxes as write-offs on their federal taxes. And, as you said, they can afford to spend extra money to have a more convenient commute.

Anyone who itemizes can deduct their property taxes from their Federal return.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by snorpus

Anyone who itemizes can deduct their property taxes from their Federal return.

Of course. That didn't stop the upper middle class from escaping Allegheny property taxes, while the wealthy are content to stay. 10k means a lot more to an upper middle class family's bottom line.

[UKyank]

Say you're living right in the city - if you're only paying property tax & not worrying about the city's higher then normal earned income tax since if you're wealthy enough that's easy to avoid, its not like it would matter all that much to live wherever, its more the upper middle class that gets slammed by taxes here.

[eschaton]

I'm sorry, but the idea that the exurbs of Pittsburgh being upper middle class is kind of odd. Murrysville has a median income of around $87,000, which is higher than Plum. But Peters, despite being wealthier (roughly $99,000) is still poorer than Upper Saint Clair. And Cranberry had a median household income of around $86,000 in 2009, but Pine, Marshall, Franklin Park, and Bradford Woods all broke into triple digits by 2010.

The bottom line is Pittsburgh exurbs aren't particularly wealthy. Which keeps with the general pattern elsewhere in the country. Exurbs tend to be slightly downscale, and they cater to people who care more about getting low taxes and high square footage for the dollar than the top suburbs, where people care more about things like public school rankings - and possibly nice houses.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'm sorry, but the idea that the exurbs of Pittsburgh being upper middle class is kind of odd. Murrysville has a median income of around $87,000, which is higher than Plum. But Peters, despite being wealthier (roughly $99,000) is still poorer than Upper Saint Clair. And Cranberry had a median household income of around $86,000 in 2009, but Pine, Marshall, Franklin Park, and Bradford Woods all broke into triple digits by 2010.

The bottom line is Pittsburgh exurbs aren't particularly wealthy. Which keeps with the general pattern elsewhere in the country. Exurbs tend to be slightly downscale, and they cater to people who care more about getting low taxes and high square footage for the dollar than the top suburbs, where people care more about things like public school rankings - and possibly nice houses.

I don't consider upper middle class wealthy. Wealthy is the upper class. There are plenty of households earning over 87k or 99k since those are median incomes. There are simply more of them in the Allegheny county to bring up the median incomes for Allegheny county suburbs. Your position is in agreement with us that the outer county suburbs draw people who need income tax breaks and higher income families tend to stay in Allegheny County. The only thing we disagree upon is if upper middle class are considered wealthy. They're certainly not the millionaires the OP is about.

[Bong477]

Originally Posted by snorpus

Anyone who itemizes can deduct their property taxes from their Federal return.

Unless you are hit by AMT.

[Buckeye Burgher]

There are high numbers of wealthy people in high-tax blue cities like New York and San Francisco.
When you have wealth beyond a certain percentage you no longer much care about your tax rate.

It is the young professionals striving to be wealthy who typically hop the county line for tax reasons.

I'd also be curious what the numbers would look like if you pulled Sewickley, Fox Chapel and Upper St. Clair out of the equation.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Burgher

It is the young professionals striving to be wealthy who typically hop the county line for tax reasons.

Then why are the six outlying counties aging faster than Allegheny County is?

Originally Posted by Buckeye Burgher

I'd also be curious what the numbers would look like if you pulled Sewickley, Fox Chapel and Upper St. Clair out of the equation.

Sewickley's median household income in 2012 was $54,121, which is lower than Monroeville and Forest Hills, to put it in perspective. Even without those three, there are still plenty of municipalities in the northern and western suburbs with median household incomes over $75,000.