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Whether you're rich obviously depends on how much money you have -- and on where you live and how many people your household income supports. (Read the full story.)
We crunched some numbers from the Census Bureau to reveal what it takes to be a top earner in 40 of the largest metro areas. And since people define "rich" differently, we calculated average incomes for the top 20% of households, and the top 5%, in each area.
Finally, we estimated what would constitute a "rich" income for a couple with no kids, and for a family of four, in each scenario.
We started with data on mean household income, by quintile, from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2007. Where possible, we used data for metropolitan statistical areas, which represents more people than for the urban areas at the core of each MSA.
To estimate household incomes for a rich couple and a rich family, we divided average income in each quintile by the average size of a U.S. household -- 2.54 people, according to the census. Then we multiplied that number by two for a childless couple and by four for a family. The "rich" estimates, therefore, do not represent actual survey data for such households in each metro area but rather an index number that allows place-to-place comparisons.
| Top 20% of households | Top 5% of households | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Metro area | Average household income | 'Rich' couple, no kids | 'Rich' family of 4 | Average household income | 'Rich' couple, no kids | 'Rich' family of 4 |
Albuquerque, N.M. | $146,554 | $115,397 | $230,794 | $245,723 | $193,483 | $386,965 |
Atlanta | $191,386 | $150,698 | $301,395 | $340,695 | $268,264 | $536,528 |
Austin, Texas | $184,131 | $144,985 | $289,970 | $318,173 | $250,530 | $501,060 |
Baltimore | $201,156 | $158,391 | $316,781 | $341,516 | $268,910 | $537,820 |
Boston | $225,726 | $177,737 | $355,474 | $402,099 | $316,613 | $633,227 |
Charlotte, N.C. | $181,381 | $142,820 | $285,639 | $319,692 | $251,726 | $503,452 |
Chicago | $200,800 | $158,110 | $316,220 | $367,200 | $289,134 | $578,268 |
Cleveland | $157,682 | $124,159 | $248,318 | $278,287 | $219,124 | $438,247 |
Colorado Springs, Colo. | $160,895 | $126,689 | $253,378 | $263,489 | $207,472 | $414,943 |
Dallas | $189,245 | $149,012 | $298,024 | $339,527 | $267,344 | $534,688 |
Denver | $187,582 | $147,702 | $295,405 | $330,176 | $259,981 | $519,962 |
Detroit | $168,245 | $132,476 | $264,953 | $285,809 | $225,046 | $450,093 |
El Paso, Texas | $126,928 | $99,943 | $199,887 | $222,454 | $175,161 | $350,321 |
Fresno, Calif. | $153,601 | $120,946 | $241,891 | $260,793 | $205,349 | $410,698 |
Honolulu | $184,787 | $145,502 | $291,003 | $298,691 | $235,190 | $470,380 |
Houston | $195,353 | $153,821 | $307,643 | $350,665 | $276,114 | $552,228 |
Indianapolis | $170,670 | $134,386 | $268,772 | $304,005 | $239,374 | $478,748 |
Jacksonville, Fla. | $167,859 | $132,172 | $264,345 | $304,955 | $240,122 | $480,244 |
Kansas City, Mo. | $164,870 | $129,819 | $259,638 | $278,511 | $219,300 | $438,600 |
Las Vegas | $173,144 | $136,334 | $272,668 | $305,256 | $240,359 | $480,718 |
Los Angeles | $216,567 | $170,525 | $341,050 | $401,315 | $315,996 | $631,992 |
Louisville, Ky. | $150,710 | $118,669 | $237,339 | $269,433 | $212,152 | $424,304 |
Memphis, Tenn. | $165,387 | $130,226 | $260,452 | $305,545 | $240,587 | $481,173 |
Miami | $187,243 | $147,435 | $294,871 | $355,299 | $279,763 | $559,526 |
Milwaukee | $165,467 | $130,289 | $260,578 | $288,831 | $227,426 | $454,852 |
Minneapolis | $192,903 | $151,892 | $303,784 | $335,240 | $263,969 | $527,937 |
Nashville, Tenn. | $175,645 | $138,303 | $276,606 | $333,520 | $262,614 | $525,228 |
New York | $240,112 | $189,065 | $378,129 | $456,558 | $359,494 | $718,989 |
Oklahoma City | $158,793 | $125,034 | $250,068 | $295,506 | $232,682 | $465,364 |
Omaha, Neb. | $155,991 | $122,828 | $245,655 | $262,914 | $207,019 | $414,038 |
Philadelphia | $195,024 | $153,562 | $307,124 | $345,676 | $272,186 | $544,372 |
Phoenix | $173,039 | $136,251 | $272,502 | $303,711 | $239,143 | $478,285 |
Portland, Ore. | $173,221 | $136,394 | $272,789 | $303,647 | $239,092 | $478,184 |
Sacramento, Calif. | $176,419 | $138,913 | $277,825 | $285,670 | $224,937 | $449,874 |
San Antonio | $155,210 | $122,213 | $244,425 | $272,217 | $214,344 | $428,688 |
San Diego | $200,204 | $157,641 | $315,282 | $342,385 | $269,594 | $539,189 |
San Francisco | $257,399 | $202,676 | $405,353 | $456,008 | $359,061 | $718,123 |
San Jose, Calif. | $267,380 | $210,535 | $421,071 | $450,231 | $354,513 | $709,025 |
Seattle | $198,866 | $156,587 | $313,175 | $349,529 | $275,220 | $550,439 |
Washington, D.C. | $255,980 | $201,559 | $403,118 | $441,854 | $347,917 | $695,833 |
U.S. | $173,953 | $136,971 | $273,942 | $311,427 | $245,218 | $490,436 |
Click here to view the methodology.
Published Dec. 3, 2008
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