America’s richest towns revealed: Silicon Valley community takes top spot for fourth consecutive year
America’s 100 richest towns have been revealed by Bloomberg’s annual index, with the highest-paid town averaging an income of over $500,000.
Atherton, California tops the list for the fourth year running with residents amassing an annual household salary of $525,324.
It is the first-ever a suburb to have ranked with an average income of over half a million dollars.
Silicon Valley proved a hub of high flyers this year with two other nearby towns, Hillsborough and Los Altos Hills, securing places in the top five of the coveted list.
Second in the rankings was Scarsdale, New York, a leafy residential estate just 35 minutes north of New York City.
Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a semi-rural estate that often attracts celebrities and business people looking for luxury homes, came in at number four.
Overall, California and New York are home to more than half of the towns that secured places on the index.
The key features that link the illustrious top five is proximity to large cities that appeal to commuters with high paying city jobs, vicinity to outstanding schools and million-dollar estate-like properties.
However, several towns that had previously made the list were booted from the rankings this year by an incremental increase in salaries across the board.
Those who lost their place in the top 50 included Lawrence, New York; North Caldwell, New Jersey; Inverness, Illinois; and Potomac, Maryland.
Four new cities stepped in to take their place, making the list for the first time: Blackhawk, California; New Albany, Ohio; Long Grove, Illinois; and Darnestown, Maryland.
Nationwide, wealth was concentrated in six counties: Westchester County, New York; Bergen County, New Jersey; Fairfield County, Connecticut; Cook County, Illinois; Los Angeles County, California; and, Montgomery County, Maryland.
But a mix of Midwest and Southwest towns did make it onto Bloomberg’s list, such as the fourth-place winner, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado.
Just missing out on one of the top five hotspots was Short Hills, New Jersey, just pipped at the post with a $388,760 yearly income.
At the half-way point of the top 100, squeezing in at number 50, Darnestown, Maryland was recorded as having an annual income of $262,988.
The rankings include Census-designated places with a minimum of 2,000 households, and roughly 6,280 places met the criteria for consideration.
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