Top 3 of nation's 4 richest counties are in NoVa

[Anonymous]

Don't worry Fairfax is trying hard to catch up to MoCo lolz

[Anonymous]

Montgomery country and Maryland are in FREEFALL. This is quite SAD! The wealthy are fleeing the high taxes to the free land of the commonwealth!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry Fairfax is trying hard to catch up to MoCo lolz

People say this occasionally, but Fairfax is #3 in the 2015 Census estimates of median HHI. The Census data also indicates that, since 2009, median HHIs have increased about $10,500 in Fairfax, compared to only about $4,500 in Montgomery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry Fairfax is trying hard to catch up to MoCo lolz

People say this occasionally, but Fairfax is #3 in the 2015 Census estimates of median HHI. The Census data also indicates that, since 2009, median HHIs have increased about $10,500 in Fairfax, compared to only about $4,500 in Montgomery.

By the way, over that same period since 2009, median HHI in PG increased about $6,800.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't worry Fairfax is trying hard to catch up to MoCo lolz

People say this occasionally, but Fairfax is #3 in the 2015 Census estimates of median HHI. The Census data also indicates that, since 2009, median HHIs have increased about $10,500 in Fairfax, compared to only about $4,500 in Montgomery.

By the way, over that same period since 2009, median HHI in PG increased about $6,800.

I could believe that. Everyone is coming here for free social services. And, to support that, county keep taxing residents.

[Anonymous]

In terms of HHI income growth since 2009, it shakes out in this order:

Falls Church City
District of Columbia
Alexandria City
Loudoun
Arlington
Fairfax
Prince William
Howard
Prince George's
Montgomery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery country and Maryland are in FREEFALL. This is quite SAD! The wealthy are fleeing the high taxes to the free land of the commonwealth!!!

If you think a county-level median has anything to do with 'the wealthy' in any American jurisdiction, you clearly have no clue about wealth, income, or medians.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery country and Maryland are in FREEFALL. This is quite SAD! The wealthy are fleeing the high taxes to the free land of the commonwealth!!!

If you think a county-level median has anything to do with 'the wealthy' in any American jurisdiction, you clearly have no clue about wealth, income, or medians.

A high county-level median HHI is suggestive of where you will probably also find aggregate wealth, but of course the wealthy can live in whatever enclaves they please. Although they may then need very good tax accountants if they don't want to get socked with a large tax bill to subsidize the less well-heeled in their jurisdictions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery country and Maryland are in FREEFALL. This is quite SAD! The wealthy are fleeing the high taxes to the free land of the commonwealth!!!

If you think a county-level median has anything to do with 'the wealthy' in any American jurisdiction, you clearly have no clue about wealth, income, or medians.

A high county-level median HHI is suggestive of where you will probably also find aggregate wealth, but of course the wealthy can live in whatever enclaves they please. Although they may then need very good tax accountants if they don't want to get socked with a large tax bill to subsidize the less well-heeled in their jurisdictions.

There's some correlation, but folks discussing an article on median income and using the word "wealth" clearly have no clue. Lots of DMV counties have had very high median incomes for decades, but only recently have had significant numbers of really wealthy folks (though higher income=income more valuable land=higher housing wealth). Howard County, in my understanding, still follows this pattern. But the country is full of place with massive wealth and not-super-high median HHI: Palm Beach County and probably Cook County come to mind.

[Anonymous]

There's some correlation, but folks discussing an article on median income and using the word "wealth" clearly have no clue. Lots of DMV counties have had very high median incomes for decades, but only recently have had significant numbers of really wealthy folks (though higher income=income more valuable land=higher housing wealth). Howard County, in my understanding, still follows this pattern. But the country is full of place with massive wealth and not-super-high median HHI: Palm Beach County and probably Cook County come to mind.

This is a good comment. The DMV area is probably not an area where lots of people who are really wealthy choose to live (and those people can choose). It's an area where working people make high wages. Yes, some wealthy people are here, but not in high numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There's some correlation, but folks discussing an article on median income and using the word "wealth" clearly have no clue. Lots of DMV counties have had very high median incomes for decades, but only recently have had significant numbers of really wealthy folks (though higher income=income more valuable land=higher housing wealth). Howard County, in my understanding, still follows this pattern. But the country is full of place with massive wealth and not-super-high median HHI: Palm Beach County and probably Cook County come to mind.

This is a good comment. The DMV area is probably not an area where lots of people who are really wealthy choose to live (and those people can choose). It's an area where working people make high wages. Yes, some wealthy people are here, but not in high numbers.

True to some extent, but obsessing about whether some tycoons are holed up in Palm Beach or Greenwich still reads a bit like an attempt to deflect attention from the fact that there is a now a major concentration of high net worth individuals in the DC area. You literally have tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who could move to other parts of the country and buy some of the most expensive properties in those areas without breaking a sweat.

[Anonymous]

True to some extent, but obsessing about whether some tycoons are holed up in Palm Beach or Greenwich still reads a bit like an attempt to deflect attention from the fact that there is a now a major concentration of high net worth individuals in the DC area. You literally have tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who could move to other parts of the country and buy some of the most expensive properties in those areas without breaking a sweat.

How does high median income equal high net worth? Just because the income is higher does not mean that net worth is higher. The measurement was median household income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

True to some extent, but obsessing about whether some tycoons are holed up in Palm Beach or Greenwich still reads a bit like an attempt to deflect attention from the fact that there is a now a major concentration of high net worth individuals in the DC area. You literally have tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who could move to other parts of the country and buy some of the most expensive properties in those areas without breaking a sweat.

How does high median income equal high net worth? Just because the income is higher does not mean that net worth is higher. The measurement was median household income.

It's already been explained. It does not "equal," but there is certainly a correlation, particularly in areas like NoVa that have seen high median incomes over an extended period of time (and as the average age of the residents gets older).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Define "richest." Being high income can be very different than having wealth.

Agreed. Howard County ranks highly because it's a very solidly middle to upper middle class county with relatively few low income residents, unlike MontCo, which has many high networth households but also a large working population, especially in the eastern part of the county. MontCo is much more diverse. On paper Howard may have the higher average income, but MontCo definitely has a much higher concentration of wealth.

That is changing, but people hang on to their old beliefs.

All you have to do is to look at house prices in Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac and compare to the richer parts of HoCo - Clarksville, Fulton, parts of Ellicott City.

There's a level of housing prices in MoCo that you do not find in Howard.

I went to redfin and plugged in Howard County and a minimum price of $2 million and there are 14 listings, of which the most expensive is a historic property on 100 acres in Glenwood for 5.7 million.

By contrast, Montgomery County has 156 houses listed above $2 million, with the most expensive in Bethesda at $18 million.

Even the District itself has 126 houses listed at and above $2 million, with the most expensive listing being $20 million for a house in Kent.

Howard is a nice county, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't have the concentration of "true" wealth that you find in parts of Montgomery and DC and NoVA. Even the Anne Arundel County waterfront has many more multi-million dollar houses than Howard (currently 57 properties listed for more than $2 million, including a spectacular Annapolis waterfront property on 26 acres for 14.5 million. Howard is affluent, but for whatever reasons, the truly high net worth households that are able to drop multiple millions on a house are heavily concentrated in certain portions of MoCo, NoVa, the district and the AA county waterfront.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Define "richest." Being high income can be very different than having wealth.

Agreed. Howard County ranks highly because it's a very solidly middle to upper middle class county with relatively few low income residents, unlike MontCo, which has many high networth households but also a large working population, especially in the eastern part of the county. MontCo is much more diverse. On paper Howard may have the higher average income, but MontCo definitely has a much higher concentration of wealth.

That is changing, but people hang on to their old beliefs.

All you have to do is to look at house prices in Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac and compare to the richer parts of HoCo - Clarksville, Fulton, parts of Ellicott City.

There's a level of housing prices in MoCo that you do not find in Howard.

I went to redfin and plugged in Howard County and a minimum price of $2 million and there are 14 listings, of which the most expensive is a historic property on 100 acres in Glenwood for 5.7 million.

By contrast, Montgomery County has 156 houses listed above $2 million, with the most expensive in Bethesda at $18 million.

Even the District itself has 126 houses listed at and above $2 million, with the most expensive listing being $20 million for a house in Kent.

Howard is a nice county, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't have the concentration of "true" wealth that you find in parts of Montgomery and DC and NoVA. Even the Anne Arundel County waterfront has many more multi-million dollar houses than Howard (currently 57 properties listed for more than $2 million, including a spectacular Annapolis waterfront property on 26 acres for 14.5 million. Howard is affluent, but for whatever reasons, the truly high net worth households that are able to drop multiple millions on a house are heavily concentrated in certain portions of MoCo, NoVa, the district and the AA county waterfront.

All true, but in discussing the wealth of counties, you also have to add up all the more modest, but positive, net worths of Howard residents vs. the smaller, if not negative, net worthy of an increasing percentage of Montgomery residents. You also have to allow for the possibility that less of the wealth of residents of places like Howard and Loudoun may be tied up in local real estate.