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America's richest and poorest places
20 richest and poorest: the most affluent counties are in the East, but western cities score well.
August 31, 2005: 2:25 PM EDT

http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/30/pf/city ... _rankings/

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - There's a reason it's called the promised land.

California can count four of the top ten richest cities in America, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau. In addition, seven of the top ten are located west of the Mississippi, while 9 of the 10 poorest cities in the country are located either on the Mississippi or east of it.

So does that mean the West is getting richer while the East slides into decay? Not quite.

The East boasts nine of the 10 richest counties.

It would be tempting to say that affluence in western cities tends to stay closer to downtown while the eastern elite flee to the suburbs, but demographers at the Census Bureau caution against such conclusions.

The sample of this year's study, which only looked at cities and counties with a population of 250,000 or more, isn't wide enough to draw larger trends. For that, we'll have to wait for next year's study, which will survey all cities and counties with a population of 65,000 or more.

In the meantime, here's a look at how the largest cities and counties stacked up, according to the Bureau's 2004 American Community Survey:

Richest American cities with a
population of 250,000 or greater
Rank City Median household income, 2004
1 San Jose, CA $71,765
2 Anchorage, AK $61,565
3 San Francisco, CA $60,031
4 Virginia Beach, VA $55,781
5 San Diego, CA $51,382
6 Anaheim, CA $49,622
7 Raleigh, NC $47,878
8 Seattle, WA $46,650
9 Washington, DC $46,574
10 Honolulu, HI $46,500
11 Oakland, CA $46,190
12 Charlotte, NC $46,082
13 Boston, MA $45,892
14 Arlington, TX $45,712
15 Austin, TX $45,508
16 Colorado Springs, CO $45,388
17 Riverside, CA $44,866
18 Las Vegas, NV $44,737
19 Aurora, CO $44,480
20 Minneapolis, MN $44,116

Poorest American cities with a
population of 250,000 or greater
Rank City Median household income, 2004
1 Miami, FL $24,031
2 Newark, NJ $26,309
3 Cleveland, OH $27,871
4 Detroit, MI $27,871
5 Buffalo, NY $28,544
6 St. Louis, MO $30,389
7 Philadelphia, PA $30,631
8 Milwaukee, WI $31,231
9 New Orleans, LA $31,369
10 El Paso, TX $31,764
11 Tucson, AZ $31,901
12 Pittsburgh, PA $31,910
13 Cincinnati, OH $31,960
14 Memphis, TN $32,399
15 Baltimore, MD $34,055
16 Toledo, OH $35,239
17 Tulsa, OK $36,255
18 Oklahoma City, OK $36,347
19 San Antonio, TX $36,598
20 Stockton, CA $37,322

Richest counties with a population of 250,000 or more
Rank City Median household income, 2004
1 Fairfax County, VA $83,975
2 Somerset County, NJ $84,892
3 Morris County, NJ $83,583
4 Montgomery County, MD $82,971
5 Howard County, MD $82,065
6 Nassau County, NY $78,762
7 Prince William County, VA $77,678
8 Monmouth County, NJ $77,223
9 Rockland County, NY $75,306
10 Santa Clara County, CA $74,509
11 Fairfield County, CT $73,110
12 Chester County, PA $72,288
13 Suffolk County, NY $71,956
14 McHenry County, IL $71,153
15 Bergen County, NJ $70,957
16 Norfolk County, MA $70,903
17 Lake County, IL $70,347
18 Middlesex County, NJ $70,344
19 DuPage County, IL $70,174
20 Westchester County, NY $70,095

Poorest counties with a population of 250,000 or more
Rank City Median household income, 2004
1 Hidalgo County, TX $24,778.00
2 Cameron County, TX $26,290.00
3 Bronx County, NY $28,705.00
4 El Paso County, TX $28,925.00
5 St. Louis city, MO $30,389.00
6 Philadelphia County, PA $30,631.00
7 Caddo Parish, LA $31,317.00
8 Orleans Parish, LA $31,369.00
9 Baltimore city, MD $34,055.00
10 Mahoning County, OH $34,132.00
11 Polk County, FL $34,206.00
12 Luzerne County, PA $34,341.00
13 Oklahoma County, OK $35,182.00
14 Mobile County, AL $35,512.00
15 Lake County, FL $35,856.00
16 E. Baton Rouge Parish, LA $35,954.00
17 Pasco County, FL $35,997.00
18 Kings County, NY $36,030.00
19 Nueces County, TX $36,050.00
20 Marion County, OR $36,591.00

Ενδιαφερον ερευνα του περιοδικου Φορμπς:

http://www.forbes.com/2005/10/27/cx_sc_ ... tner=yahoo

No. 1: San Jose, Calif.
Median Household Income: $71,765
Median Home Price: $625,000

No. 2: Anchorage, Alaska
Median Household Income: $61,595
Average Home Price: $294,374

No. 3: San Francisco, Calif.
Median Income: $60,031
Median Home Price: $726,900

No. 4: Virginia Beach, Va.
Median Income: $55,781
Median Home Price: $192,000

No. 5: San Diego, Calif.
Median Income: $51,382
Median Home Price: $605,600

No. 6: Anaheim, Calif.
Median Income: $49,622
Median Home Price: $696,100

No. 7: Raleigh, N.C.
Median Income: $47,878
Median Home Price: $185,200

No. 8: Seattle, Wash.
Median Income: $46,650
Median Home Price: $310,300

No. 9: Washington, D.C.
Median Income: $46,574
Median Home Price: $429,900

No. 10: Honolulu, Hawaii
Median Income: $46,500
Median Home Price: $577,800

Richest Cities in the U.S.
Forbes.com
Sara Clemence

http://biz.yahoo.com/weekend/richestcity_1.html

The richest cities in the U.S. are glittering metropolises where super-wealthy people gather and even relatively modest homes costs millions of dollars.

Or so one might think.

Los Angeles, home to a long list of rich neighborhoods (think Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills), would seem an obvious candidate for any rich list. So would New York, where a penthouse is currently on the market for $70 million, and where property prices are so high it seems at times as though only moguls and celebrities can afford to live there.

But by at least one measure of wealth, neither city makes the list. To figure out the richest places, have a look at the American cities with the highest median household incomes (the level at which half of the households make more and half less), as measured for 2004 by the U.S. Census Bureau. And prepare to be taken aback.

Yes, San Francisco (with a median household income of over $60,000) makes the list, as does Washington, D.C., where half the households make more than about $46,500. But New York, Boston and Miami are nowhere to be seen in the top ten. California cities make up 40% of the rankings, and the rest is made up by some surprising locales, including Anchorage, Raleigh, N.C., and Virginia Beach, Va. While pleasant places, they aren't generally thought of as homes for the rich and famous.

What gives? A combination of local economic strength, geographical quirks and the limitations of the analysis, which measures the middle of the income distribution, rather than the extremes.

'Places like Los Angeles and New York have very skewed distributions of income,' says Gilbert Yochum, professor of economics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. 'There are lots of rich people, but lots of poor people. Most of the cities in this metropolitan area--Norfolk, Newport News, Virginia Beach--have a much less skewed distribution of income. There's not as much poverty, but there aren't as many rich. We have a very high center.'

Newer cities also have higher median incomes than more established places, like Boston or Chicago, because they are growing and have people moving in rather than out. Look just outside the city of Philadelphia (which also did not make the top ten), for example, and you will see an abundance of wealthy suburbs.

According to Yochum, Virginia Beach is also helped by its strong military economic base. Military areas tend to have less-extreme income distributions (a reason San Diego makes the list as well), and retirees in the area have comfortable military pensions, he says.

In Anchorage, meanwhile, a lack of retirees helps keep median incomes higher, explains Scott Goldsmith, professor of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

'We don't have a very large senior population,' he says, because historically people went elsewhere to retire (though that is changing somewhat). 'Almost all of our households are in their prime working years. And among the working-age population, labor force participation is quite high.'

Anchorage has a lot of two-income households, and wage levels are relatively high, Goldsmith says.

'We have a lot of professional-type jobs in health care and education and the oil industry and engineering,' he argues. 'That helps to jack up the average.'

High tech helps a couple of cities--notably Raleigh, N.C. and San Jose, Calif.--make the list. San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley, tops the list with a median household income of $71,765. That's not a huge surprise, given that the broader area is home to technology powerhouses, including Intel, Cisco Systems and Google.

'We're talking about a highly educated population, with a lot of technical skills,' says Michael Solt, associate dean at the College of Business at San Jose State University. A lot of high-tech manufacturing used to take place in Santa Clara County, he points out. And even as companies, such as Sun Microsystems and Hewlett-Packard , grew, matured and shifted production overseas, they retained California headquarters.

'We're talking professionals and a lot of high-ranking officials in the corporate world, who are compensated pretty highly too,' says Solt, who can't resist adding that a balmy, Mediterranean style climate and a diverse culture help draw professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, some of them from Asia.

'A lot of working-class people have come here too. But when you're talking about driving the income, it's those professionals,' he says.

Though it may be across the country from San Jose, highly educated workers also drive income levels in Raleigh, says Ken Atkins, executive director of Wake County Economic Development, part of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

'A very short answer is very smart workers,' Atkins says. The area has the largest research park in the world, Research Triangle Park, and has become a center for knowledge industries.

Less than a year ago, he points out, Credit Suisse First Boston, part of Credit Suisse Group , decided to place its global-operations center in Research Triangle Park, creating 400 new jobs with an average wage of about $72,000 per year. The city regularly makes list of the best places to do business and has relatively affordable housing and a strong educational system.

'Smart people can live anywhere,' Atkins says, 'and they choose to live in the best places.'

Residents of other cities may disagree. Then again, he has numbers on his side.

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