The amount of money people are earning is increasing quickly in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the average income for households in the country was almost $75,000 in 2022, which is an increase from around $69,700 in 2021. The increase of 7.2% compared to the previous year was the biggest increase recorded since at least the mid-1990s.
Although the average American household is earning a higher income than ever before, there are certain areas in the country where incomes are much higher than the national average by tens of thousands of dollars.
According to the Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey, 24/7 Wall St. found the wealthiest county in each state using data from five-year estimates. Each state ranks its counties based on the median household income. The supplemental data is also based on five-year estimates from the 2022 ACS. The ACS data for Connecticut is up to date as of 2021 because of recent changes in county distinctions. We did not include counties with incomplete data in our analysis.
On this list, the median household incomes of the counties range from around $80,000 to almost $170,500. These incomes are 5% to 131% higher than the average income of households in the entire state. In more than twelve of these counties, more than double the national average of 11.4% of households earn at least $200,000 annually.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people who have a bachelor’s degree typically earn about 68% more than those who only have a high school diploma. It’s not surprising that the counties and county equivalents on this list with high incomes also tend to have well-educated populations. About 34% of adults aged 25 and older in the entire country have a bachelor’s degree or higher. In almost every state, the percentage of people with a bachelor’s degree is higher in the wealthiest county compared to the national average. In 23 of these counties, more than half of the adult population has at least a bachelor’s degree.
People who live in these counties also have the advantage of having good job opportunities. According to the ACS, in most of these places, the average unemployment rate has been lower than the statewide average over the past five years, except for six places. Only four counties on this list have a higher jobless rate than the national average of 5.3%.
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