Wealthiest US Counties by Median Household Income, 2017

[dimondpark]

This is the latest available data from factfinder.census.gov, the data for 2018 will be released later this year.

It's interesting how much wealth is spread out all over the country.

Counties with 1 million population in bold

US Counties by Median Household Income($80,000+), 2017
Loudoun, VA $135,842
Santa Clara, CA $119,039
Fairfax, VA $118,279
Arlington, VA $117,237
San Mateo, CA $116,653
Morris, NJ $114,732
Marin, CA $113,908
Stafford, VA $112,795
Somerset, NJ $112,153
Hunterdon, NJ $112,038
Douglas, CO $111,482
Howard, MD $111,473
San Francisco, CA $110,816
Nassau, NY $108,133
Delaware, OH $106,933
Williamson, TN $105,622
Montgomery, MD $103,235
Forsyth, GA $102,084
Carver, MN $101,271
Prince William, VA $100,845
Norfolk, MA $100,829
Calvert, MD $100,590
Alexandria, VA $100,530
Putnam, NY $99,479
Fauquier, VA $98,585
Middlesex, MA $98,555
Scott, MN $98,538
Monmouth, NJ $98,270
Charles, MD $97,986
Anne Arundel, MD $97,085
Chester, PA $96,656
Oldham, KY $96,576
Alameda, CA $96,296
Contra Costa, CA $95,339
Collin, TX $94,933
Rockwall, TX $94,848
Suffolk, NY $94,750
Bergen, NJ $94,107
Carroll, MD $93,676
Hamilton, IN $93,604
Frederick, MD $92,495
Washington, MN $91,867
Kendall, IL $91,250
Fairfield, CT $91,198
Broomfield, CO $90,939
Fort Bend, TX $90,845
Westchester, NY $90,578
Hanover, VA $90,066
Sussex, NJ $90,026
King, WA $89,675
Rockingham, NH $89,451
DuPage, IL $89,521
Rockland, NY $88,726
Dallas, IA $88,561
James, VA $87,910
Sherburne, MN $87,756
Burlington, NJ $87,673
Montgomery, PA $87,304
Plymouth, MA $86,910
Napa, CA $86,562
Gloucester, NJ $ 86,496
McHenry, IL $86,348
Denton, TX $86,291
Orange, CA $86,217
Lake, IL $85,895
Middlesex, NJ $85,337
New York, NY $85,071
Bucks, PA $84,749
Fayette, GA $84,742
York, VA $83,993
Kauai, HI $83,860
Saratoga, NY $83,726
Ozaukee, WI $82,869
Ventura, CA $82,857
Johnson, KS $82,855
Geauga, OH $82,741
Snohomish, WA $82,595
Washington, DC $82,372
Waukesha, WI $82,248
Brazoria, TX $82,229
Will, IL $82,196
Boone, IN $81,785
Williamson, TX $81,719
St Charles, MO $81,594
St Mary's, MD $81,495
Honolulu, HI $81,284
Prince George's, MD $81,240
Washington, OR $80,946
Boulder, CO $80,834
Dakota, MN $80,832
Chesterfield, VA $80,800
Livingston, MI $80,733
Placer, CA $80,728
Sarpy, NE $80,694
Warren, NJ $80,657
Jefferson, CO $80,616
St Croix, WI $80,512
Harford, MD $80,476
Sonoma, CA $80,409
Davis, UT $80,301
Maui, HI $80,241
Newport, RI $80,222

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

This is the latest available data from factfinder.census.gov, the data for 2018 will be released later this year.

It's interesting how much wealth is spread out all over the country.

Here's what interests me: The wealthiest really urban counties on that list are Santa Clara and San Francisco at $119K and $111K. Only a handful of other central big city counties make the list including New York and Washington which are pretty far down. Pretty amazing, really. Poop on the sidewalk must grow money trees.

[dimondpark]

The census bureau doesnt release top 1% income data but it does do the top 5%

US Counties by Average Household Income, Top 5%
$500,000+
New York, NY $942,046
Marin, CA $887,639
Fairfield, CT $845,133
Westchester, NY $784,633
San Mateo, CA $752,787
Somerset, NJ $675,978
San Francisco, CA $675,439
Nassau, NY $663,220
Morris, NJ $645,597
Arlington, VA $644,947
Santa Clara, CA $635,738
Montgomery, MD $623,874
Boone, IN $623,824
Fulton, GA $615,158
Ozaukee, WI $614,227
Norfolk, MA $605,966
Martin, FL $597,919
Bergen, NJ $597,502
Washington, DC $596,985
Fairfax, VA $592,462
Putnam, NY $589,960
Contra Costa, CA $586,581
Monmouth, NJ $583,516
Geauga, OH $581,647
Lake, IL $576,991
Mercer, NJ $571,299
Montgomery, PA $570,090
Chester, PA $567,035
Collier, FL $563,555
Williamson, TN $558,165
Hunterdon, NJ $558,121
Middlesex, MA $557,420
Union, NJ $551,330
Essex, NJ $548,235
Loudoun, VA $547,893
Hamilton, IN $546,393
Douglas, CO $544,214
King, WA $535,544
Napa, CA $529,850
Monroe, FL $529,436
Montgomery, TX $528,397
Palm Beach, FL $519,534
Carver, MN $518,218
Boulder, CO $514,702
Delaware, OH $514,422
Orange, NC $513,322
Suffolk, MA $512,231
Orange, CA $509,284
Delaware, PA $509,158
Howard, MD $509,035
Hennepin, MN $506,904
Suffolk, NY $504,642
Alameda, CA $501,620

This is out of 3,000+ counties.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Here's what interests me: The wealthiest really urban counties on that list are Santa Clara and San Francisco at $119K and $111K. Only a handful of other central big city counties make the list including New York and Washington which are pretty far down. Pretty amazing, really. Poop on the sidewalk must grow money trees.

Yes and the Bay Area two most urban counties, SF and Alameda, have leapfrogged a bunch of other counties in CA in the past 12 years.

Median Household Income 2005:
Marin $78,919
Santa Clara $76,810
San Mateo $74,546
Contra Costa $69,487
Ventura $66,859
Orange 65,953
Napa 65,260
El Dorado $63,147
Solano $62,213
Placer, CA $62,080
Alameda $61,014
Sonoma $58,330
San Francisco $57,496
San Diego $57,496

Median Household Income 2017:
Santa Clara $119,035
San Mateo $116,653
Marin $113,908
San Francisco $110,816
Alameda $96,296
Contra Costa $95,339
Napa $86,562
Orange $86,217
Ventura $82,857
Placer $80,728
Sonoma $80,409
Santa Cruz $79,705
El Dorado $79,414
Solano $77,133

[dimondpark]

Growth rate from 2005-2017

Counties with growth 50%+ in bold

Median Household Income 2017...2005(Percent Change)
Loudoun, VA $135,842....$98,483(+37%)
Santa Clara, CA $119,039....$76,810(+56%)
Fairfax, VA $118,279....$94,610(+25%)
Arlington, VA $117,237....$80,433(+46%)
San Mateo, CA $116,653....$74,546(+56%)
Morris, NJ $114,732....$84,010(+34%)
Marin, CA $113,908....$78,919(+44%)
Stafford, VA $112,795....$78,675(+43%)
Somerset, NJ $112,153....$88,532(+27%)
Hunterdon, NJ $112,038....$93,342(+20%)
Douglas, CO $111,482....$87,670(+27%)
Howard, MD $111,473....$91,184(+21%)
San Francisco, CA $110,816....$57,496(+92%)
Nassau, NY $108,133....$80,293(+35%)
Delaware, OH $106,933....$75,767(+42%)
Williamson, TN $105,622....$78,369(+34%)
Montgomery, MD $103,235....$82,187(+25%)
Forsyth, GA $102,084....$82,478(+24%)
Carver, MN $101,271....$72,998(+41%)
Prince William, VA $100,845....$81,904(+23%)
Norfolk, MA $100,829....$71,561(+40%)
Calvert, MD $100,590....$84,388(+19%)
Alexandria, VA $100,530....$66,116(+51%)
Putnam, NY $99,479....$81,076(+22%)
Fauquier, VA $98,585....no data
Middlesex, MA $98,555....$69,045(+52%)
Scott, MN $98,538....$78,106(+25%)
Monmouth, NJ $98,270....74,798(+32%)
Charles, MD $97,986....$69,573(+40%)
Anne Arundel, MD $97,085....$71,961(+36%)
Chester, PA $96,656....$72,690(+33%)
Oldham, KY $96,576....no data
Alameda, CA $96,296....$61,014(+57%)
Contra Costa, CA $95,339....$69,487(+37%)
Collin, TX $94,933....$70,784(+34%)
Rockwall, TX $94,848....no data
Suffolk, NY $94,750....$77,109(+22%)
Bergen, NJ $94,107....$71,394(+32%)
Carroll, MD $93,676....$75,833(+24%)
Hamilton, IN $93,604....$78,932(+19%)
Frederick, MD $92,495....$73,149(+26%)
Washington, MN $91,867....$73,491(+24%)
Kendall, IL $91,250....$69,536(+31%)
Fairfield, CT $91,198....$71,633(+28%)
Broomfield, CO $90,939....no data
Fort Bend, TX $90,845....$70,229(+28%)
Westchester, NY $90,578....$71,800(+26%)
Hanover, VA $90,066....$73,072(+23%)
Sussex, NJ $90,026....$74,420(+21%)
King, WA $89,675....$58,370(+53%)
Rockingham, NH $89,451....$66,190(+34%)
DuPage, IL $89,521....$70,560(+27%)
Rockland, NY $88,726....$78,649(+12%)
Dallas, IA $88,561....no data
James, VA $87,910....no data
Sherburne, MN $87,756....$61,313(+47%)
Burlington, NJ $87,673....$69,042(+26%)
Montgomery, PA $87,304....$68,210(+27%)
Plymouth, MA $86,910....$66,778(+30%)
Napa, CA $86,562....$65,260(+35%)
Gloucester, NJ $86,496....$64,484(+34%)
McHenry, IL $86,348....$70,908(+22%)
Denton, TX $86,291....$61,520(+40%)
Orange, CA $86,217....$65,953(+32%)
Lake, IL $85,895....$68,744(+25%)
Middlesex, NJ $85,337....$68,080(+25%)
New York, NY $85,071....$55,973(+54%)
Bucks, PA $84,749....$64,346(+34%)
Fayette, GA $84,742....$76,421(+10%)
York, VA $83,993....no data
Kauai, HI $83,860....no data
Saratoga, NY $83,726....$59,651(+40%)
Ozaukee, WI $82,869....$74,730(+10%)
Ventura, CA $82,857....$66,859(+24%)
Johnson, KS $82,855....$66,685(+24%)
Geauga, OH $82,741....$69,890(+17%)
Snohomish, WA $82,595....$54,173(+51%)
Washington, DC $82,372....$47,221(+74%)
Waukesha, WI $82,248....$67,222(+22%)
Brazoria, TX $82,229....$49,690(+67%)
Will, IL $82,196....$68,414(+20%)
Boone, IN $81,785....no data
Williamson, TX $81,719....$62,418(+30%)
St Charles, MO $81,594....$63,132(+28%)
St Mary's, MD $81,495....$62,939(+30%)
Honolulu, HI $81,284....$60,485(+35%)
Prince George's, MD $81,240....$63,365(+23%)
Washington, OR $80,946....$53,431(+50%)
Boulder, CO $80,834....$57,502(+40%)
Dakota, MN $80,832....$66,467(+21%)
Chesterfield, VA $80,800....$66,659(+21%)
Livingston, MI $80,733....$71,546(+12%)
Placer, CA $80,728....$62,080(+29%)
Sarpy, NE $80,694....$59,816(+35%)
Warren, NJ $80,657....$60,825(+30%)
Jefferson, CO $80,616....$60,944(+30%)
St Croix, WI $80,512....$65,999(+23%)
Harford, MD $80,476....$65,343(+23%)
Sonoma, CA $80,409....$58,330(+37%)
Davis, UT $80,301....$56,809(+42%)
Maui, HI $80,241....$57,573(+40%)
Newport, RI $80,222....$58,455(+37%)

[LouisianaRush]

Its crazy to think that the richest household median income in the county is only 135k. That is very low to be the richest county in the US.

It would be very taxing for me and my husband live on a household income of 135k in a major city on either coast. How does one buy a home and support children in DC, NYC, San Fran, LA, Seattle, Boston, or San Diego on that?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by LouisianaRush

Its crazy to think that the richest household median income in the county is only 135k. That is very low to be the richest county in the US.

It would be very taxing for me and my husband live on a household income of 135k in a major city on either coast. How does one buy a home and support children in DC, NYC, San Fran, LA, Seattle, Boston, San Diego on that?

This is median income, for entire counties, so quite high. Keep in mind that most households aren't two-income and most households don't have children. It includes retirees, college students, invalids and the like.

As to "how does one buy a home and support children" you can certainly do it on 135k in any metro provided you don't have debt and are careful with money. But a lot of folks have wealth or parental help. I would say most folks I know bought homes in NYC proper either with investment wealth or help from family.

Also, while I don't have a problem with the numbers, they're a bit misleading. Loudon County isn't a "rich" county. It's much less desirable than adjacent counties like Montgomery, Fairfax and Arlington. The reason it's #1 is because it's basically nothing but brand new sprawl so the households are overwhelmingly the type of people who live in new sprawl (i.e. mid-career two income couples).

The truly rich counties, like Montgomery, are much older and so will have retirees, subsidized housing, rental units and the like.

[sopas ej]

I don't know why I always have trouble using factfinder.census.gov, but what would be interesting to me would be to see what are the POOREST US counties by median household income, 2017, and see where those areas are concentrated in the US... and upon learning what those are, wondering how to improve those people's situations.

Are they concentrated in one region of the US? Or are they "spread out all over the country" like "wealth" is?

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I don't know why I always have trouble using factfinder.census.gov, but what would be interesting to me would be to see what are the POOREST US counties by median household income, 2017, and see where those areas are concentrated in the US... and upon learning what those are, wondering how to improve those people's situations.

I'm too lazy to look it up, but pretty sure the poorest counties are almost all in the Deep South black belt, in Appalachia around Eastern KY/WVA, along the Mexican border, and some western counties with Indian reservations.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by LouisianaRush

Its crazy to think that the richest household median income in the county is only 135k. That is very low to be the richest county in the US.

It would be very taxing for me and my husband live on a household income of 135k in a major city on either coast. How does one buy a home and support children in DC, NYC, San Fran, LA, Seattle, Boston, San Diego on that?

I understand your points and largely agree but we need to put this into context using other nationwide data:

1. The median household income for the US is $60,336.

2. The median annual earnings for full time employed persons in $46,881.

Remember that when the census refers to a 'Household', that is all persons living in a single domicile-not just parents and children(which tend to have higher incomes) but it could be 1 person, a single parent and children, etc.

[subterranean]

Washington County, OR, where I live, is growing at a pretty good clip with new Intel and other tech jobs. Infrastructure has not kept pace and Portland wants nothing to do with accommodating the suburban flows to and from the city.

[Sun Belt]

A list that ranks nominal amounts just is not very informative and doesn't reflect one's level of 'wealth'.

There are a lot of California counties that rank high on the list, yet California has the highest poverty rate in the nation.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

There are a lot of California counties that rank high on the list, yet California has the highest poverty rate in the nation.

Except you made this up. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the nation. CA doesn't have particularly high poverty rates.

And what does a ranking of wealthiest counties have to do with a state's poverty rate?

[Quixote]

I’m generally not a fan of Orange County, but the one thing I do like about it over LA is how uniformly middle class it is in comparison, with a much larger proportion of upper middle and ‘middle middle’ class households.

The fact that it ranks as high as it does on this list with a population of 3.2 million (well over one million more than the next largest) and large swaths of lower middle class areas is quite impressive IMO. Notice that SD County doesn’t make the list despite a nearly identical population size, and somewhat similar demographics and a thriving biotech industry.

[JManc]

How many of these what's the richest city/ county lists do we need? We get it, there's a lot of rich tech bros in the Bay Area/ Silicon Valley and Seattle and finance bros in New York.

[dc_denizen]

What are bros?

[Sun Belt]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Except you made this up. Mississippi has the highest poverty rate in the nation. CA doesn't have particularly high poverty rates.

And what does a ranking of wealthiest counties have to do with a state's poverty rate?

Except I didn't and we've already discussed this in previous discussions with sources from the L.A. Times.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by JManc

How many of these what's the richest city/ county lists do we need? We get it, there's a lot of rich tech bros in the Bay Area/ Silicon Valley and Seattle and finance bros in New York.

The SF Bay Area contingent isn't convinced that we all understand how rich they truly are...

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by Sun Belt

Except I didn't and we've already discussed this in previous discussions with sources from the L.A. Times.

But he's right. California does not have the highest poverty rate.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

The SF Bay Area contingent isn't convinced that we all understand how rich they truly are...

No Bay Area county leads any of these lists. I dont get the saltiness.