2010 Census: New Data Reveal Richest Counties In America (PHOTOS)

It seems this year the rich got even richer.

Though census results are only beginning to be released, last week the results of the American Community Survey were unveiled. The ACS details data such as languages spoken in a home and income levels. The data comes from surveys mailed to three million addresses from January 2005 to December 2009, according to ABC News.

Northeast Virginia led the nation in income as it was home to four of the top 10 earning cities. Local officials attribute the high ranking to excellent education levels and easy access to the DC Metro area, according to ABC. The richest county in the country saw a median income increase of almost $17,000 since 2000.

On the other end of the spectrum, Southeastern Kentucky was home to four of the nation's poorest counties. The nation's poorest county saw its median income drop $1,500 since 2000, ABC News reported.

For a list of the poorest counties in America, click here.

To find out more about your neighborhood, visit the census bureau's website.

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10. Fairfax City, VA - Median Income: $96, 232

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Median Income: $96, 232

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Median Income: $96, 232

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Comments

[Tara Hunkoff]

10:53 PM on 01/22/2011

Median Household Income by Census Tract would have been a more telling set of numbers, since they are drawn to contain about 4,000 people each. This obviously leads to smaller-sized Tracts in densely populated areas and larger-sized ones in sparsely-populated ones.

They are typically within an area bounded by major roads or natural features like streams, cliffs, thick vegetation, etc. In short, areas that most locals would recognize by some nickname like "Midtown" or "Green Valley", for example.

[whitcombc]

08:59 PM on 01/10/2011

Figures lie and liars figure. These figures are useless. The 'Median" figure means there are the same number of people above the figure as below. I lived in Massachusetts in an area where about 30 people had incomes off shore exceeding $500,000,000. Add 27,000 people with incomes from 25K to 100K and your median income gets pretty low. DUH. Here is a list of where the MONEY is, not where the distribution is spread out. Weston, Wayland, Dover, Sherborn, Wellesley, Medfield, (and out of Massachusetts) Shaker Heights, Winnetka, and so on. The wealth in these places is extreme and weighted so far to the high end that median incomes come out lower than the Near DC Neighborhoods. That is one of the problems with figuring out what is wrong with the country and the politics. The Pols living in these areas actually think THEY are the rich ones. But they are used by nameless people with barns full of money.

[mallthus]

01:35 PM on 12/28/2010

One of the issues with using counties as a designator is that the size and layout of counties varies dramatically by region of the country. For instance, there are counties in California, Nevada, New York, Florida and Texas with huge amounts of wealth, but because these counties are geographically larger than most of the counties in this list, they also encompass large numbers of less affluent people.

Think about this, San Bernardino county (in Southern California) is larger than the entire state of Maryland. Hardly an apples to apples comparison.

[miamia25]

09:13 AM on 12/23/2010

Its the lobbyists people. Geez.

[miamia25]

09:09 AM on 12/23/2010

Those places are where all the non-minorities live who are government contractors and lobbyist, residing outside DC.

[johnny crap]

04:30 AM on 12/23/2010

The list looks suspect. No mention of Marin County, CA and Orange County, CA.

[DavidBlackburn]

12:09 AM on 12/23/2010

How is Fairfax City counted as a county in addition to Fairfax County?

[Charlie Ellis]

12:38 AM on 01/26/2011

Virginia is unique in that we have independent cities which are not part of the counties in which they are located. They are separate jurisdictions.

[MikeyJaii]

04:16 PM on 12/22/2010

Obviously where the rich lives, then the neighborhood is obviously good and full of cash.

[HyacinthGirl]

03:28 PM on 12/22/2010

Thanks, HuffPost! Now I know who to rob, and just in time for Christmas too!

[hellboundtrain]

01:59 PM on 12/22/2010

That is one butt-ugly home, but then so is that big pile of fed res. coupons next to it.

[speeddeeps]

01:00 PM on 12/22/2010

what about the philly suburdbs?

[1313]

12:43 PM on 12/22/2010

I'd like to see a list of the richest zipcodes. You'd get a whole different set of locations and you'd see where the real rich people live.

[Codeine Priest]

12:38 PM on 12/22/2010

You can always tell where the cesspool is by looking for the greenest patches of surrounding grass.

[speeddeeps]

12:37 PM on 12/22/2010

I dont feel sorry for Kentucky

[GeorgieGirl9]

12:35 PM on 12/22/2010

Wonder what's driving up those averages in VA? Couldn't be those bloated government salaries....

[Charles Ferry]

02:51 PM on 12/22/2010

Generally it's only the middle to low tier of government employees that make more than their private sector peers. At the highest levels you have people with the credentials to make serious coin in the private sector.

Yes, it's bloated government salaries. And lobbyists seeking to corrupt those government workers.

[miamia25]

09:12 AM on 12/23/2010

Government contractors and lobbyist not the employees. Their salary is moderate for the median income of the entire area.