Cities and towns with ties to Wall Street and the Silicon Valley, and a smattering of communities in between, boasted the highest U.S. household incomes in 2015, according to a Bloomberg analysis of census data.
Atherton, California, in the technology corridor between San Francisco and San Jose, topped the list as America’s wealthiest town, while more than one-third of the nation’s 100 richest households were located within 50 miles of New York City.
“The industries that are located in the so-called fly-over states don’t pay nearly the same as those on the coasts,” said Richard Yamarone, an economist at Bloomberg Intelligence. “Earnings for farmers, ranchers and manufacturers simply pale in comparison to the larger salary and bonus-laden occupations.”
Bloomberg evaluated inflation-adjusted household income data for all U.S. places with a minimum population of 2,000 and ranked them based on average household income. Nearly 6,200 met the criteria. Displayed here are the top 100.
In Atherton, annual average household income was $444,374 in 2015. Cherry Hills Village, a suburb of Denver, ranked No. 2 at $403,532. Scarsdale, New York, was No. 3 at $371,194.
Rounding out the top 10 were Hillsborough, California; Short Hills, New Jersey; Old Greenwich, Connecticut; Los Altos Hills, California; Bronxville, New York; Darien, Connecticut; and Winnetka, Illinois.
By Vincent del Giudice and Wei Lu, Bloomberg