Business & Tech

Arlington County Households Third Wealthiest in Nation

With an average household income of $101,000, residents are wealthy on paper—but the cost of living and housing costs are high.

Arlington residents are the third wealthiest in the country, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

More than half of the households in Arlington County have an income of more than $100,000, according to 2011 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

With a median household income of $101,000, Fairfax County is the third-wealthiest county in the entire United States. Loudoun County was first with a median income of $119,000. Fairfax County is second with a median income of $106,000, according to the 2011 data, WTOP reported.

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Those of us who live here know the cost of living—particularly housing—is a major factor in how wealthy we actually feel.

The median home sales price in Arlington County between June and August this year was $547,000. The average listing price for the week ending Sept. 12 in Arlington County was $751,000, according to data from real estate site Trulia.

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Just last week, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova said residents of Fairfax County who make minimum wage could work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and still would not be able to afford a one-bedroom apartment due to high housing prices.

The cost of living index in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area is 139.2, or almost 40 percent higher than the average metropolitan area in the United States, according to the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. The index for housing costs is 222.7, more than twice the average for major metropolitan areas in the United States.

Do you feel like you're well off, or are you living paycheck to paycheck because of housing costs, student loans and other bills?

The following data comes from the 2011 American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau based on data from 91,386 households in Arlington County:

Household Income Households Percent of Households Margin of Error Less than $10,000 2,915 3.2 +/- 1.0 $10,000 to $14,999 1,426 1.6 +/- 0.7 $15,000 to $24,999 4,566 5.0 +/- 1.7 $25,000 to $34,999 4,129 4.5 +/- 1.3 $35,000 to $49,999 6,079 6.7 +/- 1.6 $50,000 to $74,999 12,387 13.6 +/- 2.4 $75,000 to $99,999 13,922 15.2 +/- 2.3 $100,000 to $149,999 16,543 18.1 +/- 2.4 $150,000 to $199,999 11,773 12.9 +/- 2.3 $200,000 or more 17,656 19.3 +/- 2.2


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