For most of the last decade I lived in Fairfax County, VA . . . and for most of that time, Fairfax County was ranked as the richest county in the United States (even with folks like me dragging down the averages ;-)). Last year, Melissa and I moved to neighboring Loudoun County, Virginia, and now, no thanks to us, Loudoun County now ranks as the richest in the country. I think the rich people are following me.
According to Forbes Magazine, the median family income in my new home county is a whopping $110,643/year.
That sounds great and all, and Melissa and I are actually slowly creeping up toward that number, but this ranking does not (apparently) take cost of living into consideration. As I often have to point out to my friends from southern Virginia, everything costs a lot more up here. In SoVA you can get a decent apartment for well under $1,000/month; up here in NoVA, almost anything under $1,400 is a roach-infested dump. It all evens out.
If you measure by quality of life, or use cost-of-living adjusted values, I’d bet the relative ‘richness’ of Loudoun, Fairfax, and the other local counties on the Forbes list would be a bit above-average, but probably not at the very top of the list.