Income & Jobs
The Highest-Income Counties in America
U.S. county-level median income runs from under $35,000 to over $185,000. The highest-income counties are remarkably concentrated.
By City Zip Compare Editorial · March 8, 2026 · 6 min read
Of the 3,143 counties and county-equivalents in the United States, the top of the income distribution is dominated by Washington DC suburbs, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the New York commuter belt. The bottom is dominated by the Mississippi Delta, Appalachia, and Native American reservation counties.
The top ten
Loudoun County, VA leads almost every release at roughly $170,000. Falls Church City, VA, Howard County, MD, Santa Clara County, CA (Silicon Valley), San Mateo County, CA, Arlington County, VA, Marin County, CA, Fairfax County, VA, Douglas County, CO, and Hunterdon County, NJ round out the top ten.
Eight of the top ten are commuter counties for either Washington DC or San Francisco. The two outliers — Douglas County (Denver suburb) and Hunterdon County (NYC commuter) — are still high-income suburban counties of major metros.
- Loudoun County, VA: ~$170,000
- Santa Clara County, CA: ~$153,000
- Howard County, MD: ~$135,000
- San Mateo County, CA: ~$149,000
- Marin County, CA: ~$142,000
Why the top is so geographically narrow
Three industries drive the top of the U.S. county income distribution: federal contracting (DC suburbs), tech (Bay Area), and finance (NYC commuter belt). All three concentrate high-credential, high-wage workers in physically small jurisdictions, which produces extreme county-level medians.
There is no oil-state, manufacturing, or healthcare county in the top ten. That tells you something about which sectors generate concentrated wealth.
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Data: census.gov/programs-surveys/acs.