New Income statistics out, Midwests richest urban counties

[denvernative1982]

Per-capita income percent of national average

Oakland County, Michigan 156% (Richest County in the midwest!!)
Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minneapolis) 143%
St. Louis County, Missouri 137%
Hamilton County, Ohio (Cincinnati) 119%
Douglas County, Nebraska (Omaha) 117%
Ramsey County, Minnesota (St. Paul) 117%
Dane County, Wisconsin (Madison) 116%
Cook County, IL (Chicago) 112%
Polk County, Iowa (Des Moines) 111%
Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus) 110%
Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Cleveland) 109%
Jackson County, Missouri (Kansas City) 102%
Marion County, Indiana (Indianapolis) 106%
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin 100%
Sedgwick County, Kansas (Wichita) 98%
Lucas County, Ohio (Toledo) 96%
Wayne County, Michigan 95%

Bureau of Economic Analysts just came out Today!!!

[Lmichigan]

Source? What do the numbers mean?

[rider_of_rohan]

I think you should point out that the city of St Louis is not in St Louis county. It is totally suburban. As for Hennipen county that is supprising to me. I admit there are some very wealthy communities in the western part of the county around Lake Minnetonka and in Edina but for the most part the people are either poor or middle class working stiffs just like the rest of us. Oakland county is suburban too by the way.

[Toggie]

Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Plymouth, everything around Lake Minnetonka, Hennepin is no surprise, the real surprise on there is Ramsey CO which is entirely urban.

[denvernative1982]

Hennepin County last 25 years ranged from 128 to 144%.
Wow, that is very economically stable when you think of it.

Hennepin County per-capita percent of national average
Year: 1979 129%
Lowest 1981: 128%
Year: 1984 131%
Year: 1989 133%
Year: 1994 134%
Year 1999: 143%
Peaked in 2000: 144%
2003: 143%

Alot this might be lower than average houshold sizes more than anything!!

-Wayne County, Michigan has gone from 8 percent above (1979) to 5 percent below (2003) national average in the last 24 years

[VanillaVille]

I assumed that I'd open up this thread and see Cook County sitting by itself, since it's the only true urban county in the midwest. Cuyahoga and Milwaukee counties come close to being all urban, but the rest aren't even close.

[Coldwake]

Per-capita income percent of national average

Oakland County, Michigan 156% (Richest County in the midwest!!)

Bureau of Economic Analysts just came out Today!!!

even if this was in fact a credible study... making the richest count in midwest assumption of yours is blatantly false. Perhaps if you had said, "richest urban county in the midwest" it may have in fact been more accurate.

The wealthiest county in the midwest is actually (based on average household income) Ozaukee county just north of Milwaukee. Its the 10th wealthiest in the nation based on those statistics. It follows 9 counties in California.

[Coldwake]

whoa! I was totally wrong... its 20th and 1-19 are spread all over.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/OzWash/feb02/19091.asp

[Markitect]

Source? What do the numbers mean?

Ever notice how he rarely ever posts links to the source material, like almost everybody else does as a customary courtesy?

[Markitect]

whoa! I was totally wrong... its 20th and 1-19 are spread all over.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/OzWash/feb02/19091.asp

I seem to recall hearing many years ago that Ozaukee was ranked in the number one or two spot in the nation, but the article you linked seems to imply that OzCo clocking in at #20 (based on 1998 data) was the highest it's ever been so far.

[KM1410]

What do the numbers mean?

pretty much nothing.

[KM1410]

whoa! I was totally wrong... its 20th and 1-19 are spread all over.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/OzWash/feb02/19091.asp

I think those numbers are old too. Hamilton Co in Indiana is 6th on the list in the link, but i think its lower now.

[ManageMich]

Oakland County is #4 in the nation for counties with a population over 1 million.

[NovaWolverine]

Oakland is fifth, Fairfax County, VA broke a million in that past year or so.

[hudkina]

The numbers are for 2003 and the source is: http://www.bea.gov/bea/regional/bearfacts/countybf.cfm

Basically how the numbers are derived is they take all of the reported income of all the residents of the county and then divide it by how many people live in the county. So, for instance, Oakland county residents collectively reported personal incomes of $59,265,844,000 in 2003. Since there were 1,208,313 people in Oakland County in 2003, the per capita personal income was $49,048. The national average was $31,472, so the PCPI in Oakland county was 156% above the national average.

[hudkina]

BTW, here are the rankings for Michigan:

1. Oakland - $49,048 - 156%
2. Washtenaw - $38,323 - 122%
3. Livingston - $35,869 - 114%
4. Macomb - $34,206 - 109%
5. Midland - $32,821 - 104%
6. Leelanau - $31,599 - 100%
7. Kent - $30,624 - 97%
8. Emmet - $30,467 - 97%
9. Kalamazoo - $30,429 - 97%
10. Monroe - $29,914 - 95%
11. Wayne - $29,879 - 95%
12. Grand Traverse - $29,662 - 94%
13. Ingham - $28,825 - 92%
14. St. Clair - $28,646 - 91%
15. Ottawa - $28,570 - 91%

Here are the rankings for Michigan MSAs:
1. Ann Arbor - $38,323
2. Detroit - $35,972
3. Monroe - $29,914
4. Grand Rapids - $29,188
5. Kalamazoo - $28,947
6. Lansing - $28,671
7. Holland - $28,570
8. Traverse City - $28,022
9. Benton Harbor - $27,572
10. Flint - $27,521
11. Battle Creek - $26,778
12. Bay City - $26,726
13. Saginaw - $26,454
14. Jackson - $25,712
15. Muskegon - $24,468

[hudkina]

Here are the rankings for the 10 largest Midwestern MSAs:
1. Minneapolis - $38,601 - +123%
2. Detroit - $35,972 - +114%
3. Chicago - $35,464 - +113%
4. Milwaukee - $35,133 - +112%
5. Indianapolis - $33,618 - +107%
6. St. Louis - $33,451 - +106%
7. Kansas City - $33,335 - +106%
8. Cleveland - $33,196 - +105%
9. Cincinnati - $32,979 - +105%
10. Columbus - $32,930 - +105%

and here are the rankings for the 10 largest Midwestern CSAs:
1. Minneapolis - $37,567 - +119%
2. Detroit - $35,258 - +112%
3. Chicago - $35,236 - +112%
4. Milwaukee - $34,697 - +110%
5. St. Louis - $33,204 - +106%
6. Kansas City - $32,952 - +105%
7. Cincinnati - $32,849 - +104%
8. Indianapolis - $32,596 - +104%
9. Cleveland - $32,320 - +103%
10. Columbus - $31,945 - +102%

[denvernative1982]

Ozaukee County Wisconsin is 151% of national average
and Oakland County Michigan is 156% of national average

Oakland County, Michigan is the richest in the midwest

[TheKansan]

Jackson County, Missouri (Kansas City) 102%


Kansas City, Missouri sits in parts of 4 seperate counties. Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Cass counties. To only use the Jackson County portion would exclude parts of the city, yet at the same time include suburban cities like Lees Summit.

[Lmichigan]

What county does most of KC sit in though? Even so, he's simply stating counties, not cities.

[elmwood]

I call shenanigans!

If the list includes only counties where central cities are located, as it appears the list is showing, why is Oakland County, Michigan included? Detroit is in Wayne County -- that is, unless Southfield or Farmington Hills is now considered the major central city in southeastern Michigan.

Here's the real deal - median household incomes from the US Census Bureau 2003 Commuity Survey.

11 McHenry County, IL 70,956
16 Lake County, IL 69,670
21 DuPage County, IL 67,505
23 Dakota County, MN 67,216
29 Will County, IL 65,186
30 Waukesha County, WI 63,826
31 Johnson County, KS 63,155
32 Oakland County, MI 63,024
47 Kane County, IL 60,348
53 St. Charles County, MO 58,547
54 Anoka County, MN 58,279
70 Hennepin County, MN 54,019
77 Washtenaw County, MI 52,330
82 St. Louis County, MO 51,905
83 Macomb County, MI 51,858
87 Dane County, WI 51,021
98 Ramsey County, MN 49,551
103 Polk County, IA 48,917
107 Madison County, IL 48,288
110 Cook County, IL 47,926
119 Lancaster County, NE 46,584
121 Lorain County, OH 45,645
126 Douglas County, NE 45,417
128 Winnebago County, IL 45,251
129 Franklin County, OH 45,141
132 Lake County, IN 45,134
133 St. Joseph County, IN 44,919
145 Sedgwick County, KS 43,398
146 Ingham County, MI 43,379
156 Hamilton County, OH 42,346
166 Pulaski County, AR 41,573
167 Marion County, IN 41,247
172 Summit County, OH 40,756
177 Jackson County, MO 40,343
179 Montgomery County, OH 40,246
180 Genesee County, MI 40,224
181 Allen County, IN 40,213
188 Wayne County, MI 39,769
191 Milwaukee County, WI 39,067
194 Stark County, OH 38,703
198 Cuyahoga County, OH 38,204
207 Lucas County, OH 36,804
216 St. Clair County, IL 35,882
226 Mahoning County, OH 32,001

There's a lot of well-off midwestern suburban counties that aren't on the list, because they have fewer than 250,000 residents - Lake, Geauga and Delaware in Ohio; Clay and Platte in Missouri; and Hamilton County, Indiana to name a few.

[hudkina]

These aren't Median household incomes, these are per capita income.