Richest Town in Every State

The Boston suburb of Winchester has a median household income of nearly $160,000 a year — more than double the statewide median of $77,378, which itself is one of the highest among states. As is often the case in the small cities and towns on this list, Winchester residents tend to be well educated. More than three out of every four adults in the area have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 41.9% of adults in Massachusetts.

Real estate values in Winchester reflect the area’s high incomes. The typical Winchester home is worth $893,700, more than double the median home value of $366,800 in Massachusetts.

Bloomfield Hills is the wealthiest place in Michigan. Most households in the area earn over $170,000 a year — more than triple the median annual household income statewide of $55,000. A suburb of Detroit, Bloomfield Hills is located less than 30 miles from Hamtramck, the poorest community in the state where most households earn less than $26,000 a year.

Wealthy areas tend to be home to well-educated populations — and Bloomfield Hills is no exception. Of all area residents 25 and older, 70.6% have a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 28.6% of adults across the state as a whole.

Situated on the northeast shore of White Bear Lake some 20 miles from downtown Minneapolis, Dellwood is one of the wealthiest suburbs in the Midwest. The typical household earns $176,528 a year, more than twice the $68,411 state median household income and nearly three times the $60,293 national figure.

Individuals with greater educational attainment are more likely to have high-paying jobs. In Dellwood, some 75.2% of adults have a bachelor’s degree, more than twice both the state bachelor’s degree attainment rate of 35.4% and the national rate of 31.5%.

Based on median household income, Mississippi is the poorest state in the country. The typical Mississippi household earns just $43,567 a year, about $17,000 less than the typical American household. Even in Brandon, the wealthiest place in the state, the typical household earns $74,172 annually — which, while high in the context of Mississippi, is less than the median income in half a dozen states, including Alaska, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

While many of the small cities and towns on this list have median home values of well over half a million dollars, in Brandon, most homes are worth less than $178,000. For context, the typical American home is worth about $205,000.

Clarkson Valley is a small Missouri city of less than 3,000 people. Located less than 25 miles west of St. Louis, Clarkson Valley residents have access to employment opportunities in the nearby city, many of them high paying. The typical Clarkson Valley household earns about $171,000 a year, more than three times the income the typical Missouri household earns.

Incomes tend to rise with educational attainment, and as is often the case in other states, Missouri’s wealthiest town is also its best educated. Clarkson Valley is the only small city or town in the state where more than 75% of the adult population has a bachelor’s degree or higher. Across Missouri, 28.6% of adults have a four-year college education.