In Texas’ wealthiest suburb, greenery goes far.
According to a new analysis by personal finance website GoBankingRates, the pleasant West University Place suburb is the wealthiest suburb in Texas. It’s green, beautiful, and hosts and host an average household income of nearly $410,000. On the same list, West U also ranks as the third-wealthiest suburb in the United States.
West University Place neighbours Rice University and enjoys a famously beautiful tree canopy. It was the only Houston suburb to break the top ten. By comparison, residents of Bellaire in southwest Harris County had an average household income of about $311,000 a year. It was ranked as the fourth-wealthiest suburb in Texas and the 23rd wealthiest in the country. Fulshear, in Fort Bend County, ranked 10th in Texas with an average household income of about $210,000.
Scarsdale, N.Y. was ranked America’s wealthiest suburb for the second year in a row. According to GoBankingRates, with an average annual household income of just over $600,000, Rye, N.Y. came in second with an average household income of nearly $420,000. 17 of California’s suburbs sit in the nation’s 50 wealthiest.
GoBankingRates discussed the methodology used in its rankings. To count as a suburb, a community had to be a city within a metropolitan statistical area – just not the primary city in that MSA. Next, the website looked at suburbs with a minimum of 5,000 households. Suburbs such as Hunter’s Creek Village and Piney Point Village would be excluded from these criteria, despite both being wealthy areas.
Suburbs that made the cut as far as population were ranked by average household income. This was determined using data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Housing costs are on the rise – a serious financial pressure even for the most affluent households. GoBankingRate also sized up average single-family home values in the suburbs that made its ranking using data from Zillow. In West U, that figure was a fraction shy of $1 million.
In an email announcing its findings, GoBankingRates states the Houston area stands out for having relatively affordable housing, despite its wealthy suburbs.
“While Dallas boasts five more spots on the ranking than Houston, Houston reports higher household income and more affordable homes on average,” the website said.
Informational source: KHOU
