<p>This link has a MAP of where the 1% households are. By the way, that $380K figure is from 2008.</p>
<p>[Where</a> the 1% Live - Jobs & Economy - The Atlantic Cities](<a href=“http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2011/10/where-one-percent-live/393/]Where”>http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2011/10/where-one-percent-live/393/)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>right… our point is just that making twice as much money doesn’t make you automatically better off if all your major expenses are also twice as much.</p>
<p>“right… our point is just that making twice as much money doesn’t make you automatically better off if all your major expenses are also twice as much.”</p>
<p>I hope you are getting your money’s worth in perks for living in a pricey area- otherwise why do it? ;)</p>
<p>^ we live in one of “those” counties and the simple answer is (as someone posted above) jobs, jobs,jobs…</p>
<p>And we have a few other perks as well, notable very good public schools.</p>
<p>Years ago when H left the military his background/education/experience were very suited to jobs in the area where we live, not so much for more affordable areas of the country. So we have remained here. </p>
<p>Our county is home to many, many upper middle class people, a good number of middle and lower middle and yes, some very poor people. Not a lot of mega rich. Someone in a very early thread mentioned politicians, if they are living near me they are hiding very well!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This comes up again and again. Very true. The only people whose living expense is high while living conditions are poor are in a high mountain or in a desert.</p>
<p>We stay because all our family is here. It would be so hard on the grandparents if we moved away. We have encouraged our kids to move further away (the plan being that we’d follow them when they had children) but so far, that has not happened. Rather, they have found jobs nearby, so I guess we are staying put. </p>
<p>And we do have excellent bagels here. I hear that they are not available in other parts of the US.</p>
<p>did anybody else notice that all top 15 rich counties are in the states that voted blue and all ten poorest counties in the states that voted red during the last general election cycle?</p>
<p>Actually science - the 3 county area in there where I’m from is heavily republican.</p>
<p>of course, most of the rich counties are all heavily republican.</p>
<p>i am still talking about the states where these counties reside. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.</p>
<p>After all, rich counties are NOT found on the poorest states. They go hand in hand. Infrastructure maters. General educational level matters. business/employment opportunities matter.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen a list that didn’t have Marin and Westchester on it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually, the opposite was true in California in 2008.</p>
<p>Compare the median income levels of various California counties:
[ERS/USDA</a> Data - CA Unemployment and Median Household Income](<a href=“http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/unemployment/RDList2.asp?ST=CA]ERS/USDA”>http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/unemployment/RDList2.asp?ST=CA)</p>
<p>And the 2008 election results:
<a href=“http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_general/ssov/4-pres-statewide-summary-by-county.pdf[/url]”>http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_general/ssov/4-pres-statewide-summary-by-county.pdf</a></p>
<p>El Dorado, Placer, Orange, Ventura, and San Diego counties are above median household income, but voted relatively R (although only in El Dorado, Placer, and Orange did the R candidate get more votes than the D candidate). But most of the richest counties like Marin, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, San Francisco, and Alameda voted heavily D. Most of the heavily R voting counties are poorer ones like Calaveras, Glenn, Lassen, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Shasta, Sierra, Tehama, Tulare, and Yuba. However, Los Angeles voted heavily D despite being poorer than the state median.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not a huge surprise when you break it down by county. Those counties in MD and VA are pretty small compared to counties in CA - Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc. counties are all larger than approx 3 million people, so of course median income isn’t going to be anywhere near some smaller wealthy counties. But there are smaller areas in each of those counties that crush the counties on that list in terms of income.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>well, most of the national security related jobs are in DC, so I don’t really have a choice, since that is my chosen path. Of course there are other places, but they don’t have the same number of opportunities.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, those that live in the richest counties could you post what your “average” property/school taxes are:(just to get an idea of the range of costs)
I will post our typical for sizes of home in Nassau County
2500-2800 sq ft home $20k-36K taxes 100 ft x 100ft property size </p>
<p>1400-1700 sq ft home $12k-17k taxes 50ft x 100 ft of property</p>
<p>1000-1200 sq ft $7k-10k taxes on 40 x 100 ft</p>
<p>I live in King County- our taxes are based on assessed (average) value- we don’t have state tax.
[Where</a> Americans Pay Most In Property Taxes - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/15/property-taxes-high-lifestyle-real-estate-counties-assessment-taxes.html]Where”>Where Americans Pay Most In Property Taxes)</p>
<p>Arlington County Virginia and Montgomery County Maryland are bluer than blue. Rich doesn’t mean red…</p>
<p>While I feel our property taxes are low (certainly compared to what my BIL and SIL pay in NJ), our income tax is 8%.</p>
<p>The property taxes on our house would readjust when we sell, but as of now, they are based on assessed value and the max they can go up is 10% per assessment cycle (IIRC). I don’t recall if that was a first-time homebuyer thing (we are in our starter house) or if it is county-wide.</p>
<p>Agree with dudedad that Montgomery County is quite blue.</p>
<p>Family member in small town midwest has a house about the same size as ours and her property taxes are considerable higher than ours.</p>
<p>Isn’t Nassau County going to declare bankruptcy? Pretty ironic making the top 15 richest list.</p>
<p>Sorry, I missed it. Holy cow! Where is Nassau Co., because I am definitely not moving there? What are sales tax and state income tax rates? 2500 sf is not big, on less than 1/4 acre. That is what people earn here.</p>