After introducing the list last year, Bloomberg has published its second iteration of the “100 Richest” list – its analysis of the 100 wealthiest towns in America, based off data compiled by the Census bureau. The data is released with a delay, so data from this year’s list stretch back to 2016.
And perhaps the most interesting takeaway from this year’s data is the gains made by midwestern towns – notably suburban Chicago and St. Louis – which are finally making headway against towns along the West and East Coasts that typically comprise the bulk of the towns on the list.
The Silicon Valley suburb of Atherton, Calif. claimed the top spot again. As Bloomberg explains, the six-square-mile town is near Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Stanford University.
Atherton’s average household income was $443,403 in 2016, more than $50,000 higher than second-place Cherry Hills Village, Colorado.
See the list in full below:
Newcomers to the list include three areas in suburban Chicago. The average income in Clarendon Hills, Illinois, about 25 miles west of downtown Chicago, jumped 15% in 2016 from the prior year, breaking into the top 100 for the first time with a tally of $199,325. Three other western Chicago suburbs made the top 100: Burr Ridge, Oak Brook and Hinsdale. All four showed gains in household earnings from between 4% and 15% to 15 percent from the prior year.
The biggest mover on the list was Highland Park, Texas, which moved up to No. 9 from No. 14 the previous year as a zero state income tax and relatively low overall tax burden made it more attractive (since the data is from 2016, the impact of last year’s increase in energy prices isn’t reflected). Another big mover was Los Altos Hills, Calif., which climbed three spots to No. 4. Los Altos Hills is home to tech billionaires, including Google’s Sergey Brin and entrepreneur Yuri Milner.
Another notable entry was Palm Beach, Fla. – home to President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago.
Bloomberg also calculated something called the Gini Index, which is a measure of the homogeneity of incomes. For example, the more incomes are clustered around the median, the lower the Gini reading.
And the prize for top Gini Index reading was Greenwich, Connecticut, while Darnestown, Maryland scored the lowest. Their scores were 0.37 and 0.65, respectively.
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