Most Affluent Small Cities in America

In this study, AdvisorSmith examined median household incomes in small cities around the country to discover the most affluent small cities in the United States. While the idea of a wealthy American city often brings to mind the high-rises of New York or the hilltop mansions of San Francisco, there are many smaller communities in the United States that are also very affluent.

AdvisorSmith researched small cities with between 10,000 and 100,000 residents to find the most affluent small cities in the nation. We divided our analysis of small cities into three city sizes: cities with between 10,000 and 30,000 residents, cities with between 30,000 and 50,000 residents, and cities with between 50,000 and 100,000 residents. While the median household income in the United States was $68,703 in 2019, the median income in these small cities was much higher.

Most Affluent Small Cities: 10,000 to 30,000 Residents

Among the top 50 cities with between 10,000 and 30,000 residents, the range of median household incomes was between $163,614 and $250,000+. The median household income among the top 50 cities was $187,571. California and Virginia had the most cities in this population range, with 10 each, followed by New Jersey with seven, and New York and Illinois with five each.

Rank	City	State	Median Household Income (2019)	Population (2019)
1	Hillsborough	California	$250,000+	11,447
1	Winnetka	Illinois	$250,000+	12,428
1	Short Hills	New Jersey	$250,000+	13,428
1	West University Place	Texas	$250,000+	15,603
1	Scarsdale	New York	$250,000+	17,837
6	Travilah	Maryland	$241,369	11,301
7	Alamo	California	$239,545	14,905
8	Great Falls	Virginia	$238,125	14,872
9	Darien	Connecticut	$232,523	21,742
10	Wolf Trap	Virginia	$227,022	16,436
11	Piedmont	California	$224,659	11,317
12	University Park	Texas	$224,485	25,036
13	Orinda	California	$223,217	19,646
14	Paradise Valley	Arizona	$211,393	14,362
15	Upper Montclair	New Jersey	$211,221	11,589
16	Bellaire	Texas	$206,734	18,815
17	Westport	Connecticut	$206,466	28,016
18	New Albany	Ohio	$203,409	10,925
19	Hinsdale	Illinois	$203,368	17,710
20	Coto de Caza	California	$199,056	15,056
21	Wellesley	Massachusetts	$197,132	28,747
22	Palos Verdes Estates	California	$194,543	13,434
23	Town and Country	Missouri	$192,983	11,077
24	Rye	New York	$192,688	15,820
25	Fort Hunt	Virginia	$188,142	16,973
26	Glen Rock	New Jersey	$187,000	11,780
27	Broadlands	Virginia	$184,475	13,576
28	Ridgewood	New Jersey	$184,355	25,179
29	Franklin Farm	Virginia	$183,247	18,321
30	Wyndham	Virginia	$182,803	10,578
31	Brambleton	Virginia	$181,905	21,358
32	Dranesville	Virginia	$179,031	11,661
33	Lafayette	California	$178,889	26,305
34	Fairfax Station	Virginia	$177,600	12,046
35	Lowes Island	Virginia	$176,830	10,860
36	La Cañada Flintridge	California	$175,788	20,261
37	Garden City	New York	$174,886	22,499
38	Western Springs	Illinois	$174,760	13,272
39	Jericho	New York	$173,709	13,889
40	Tenafly	New Jersey	$172,926	14,632
41	Franklin Lakes	New Jersey	$172,766	10,946
42	Lake Forest	Illinois	$172,165	19,173
43	North Potomac	Maryland	$171,066	23,914
44	Westfield	New Jersey	$170,798	29,877
45	Winchester	Massachusetts	$169,623	22,738
46	San Marino	California	$166,607	13,194
47	Dix Hills	New York	$166,334	25,925
48	Wilmette	Illinois	$164,681	27,247
49	Castle Pines	Colorado	$163,819	10,591
50	Mill Valley	California	$163,614	14,330

Most Affluent Small Cities: 30,000 to 50,000 Residents

For cities with between 30,000 and 50,000 residents, the top 50 median household incomes ranged from $118,196 to $240,248. Among the top 50 cities, the median household income was $137,983. California had the most cities in this population range, with 16 cities among the most affluent. Virginia had six cities, and Maryland had four.

Rank	City	State	Median Household Income (2019)	Population (2019)
1	Southlake	Texas	$240,248	31,292
2	Los Altos	California	$235,278	30,504
3	McLean	Virginia	$207,184	47,682
4	Potomac	Maryland	$195,884	45,940
5	Saratoga	California	$191,677	30,697
6	Lexington	Massachusetts	$186,201	33,340
7	San Carlos	California	$182,083	30,154
8	Brentwood	Tennessee	$168,688	42,407
9	Needham	Massachusetts	$165,547	30,970
10	Danville	California	$160,808	44,605
11	Menlo Park	California	$160,784	34,138
12	South Riding	Virginia	$158,996	31,515
13	Foster City	California	$158,529	33,997
14	Leawood	Kansas	$157,515	34,670
15	Los Gatos	California	$155,863	30,729
16	Parkland	Florida	$154,844	31,454
17	Manhattan Beach	California	$153,023	35,500
18	Severna Park	Maryland	$151,499	38,188
19	Burke	Virginia	$145,234	42,806
20	Linton Hall	Virginia	$144,420	41,386
21	Olney	Maryland	$143,396	35,191
22	Keller	Texas	$141,364	46,813
23	New City	New York	$138,638	35,101
24	Rancho Palos Verdes	California	$138,557	42,030
25	Commack	New York	$138,098	36,953
26	Dublin	Ohio	$137,867	46,499
27	El Dorado Hills	California	$137,726	46,593
28	Princeton	New Jersey	$137,672	31,000
29	Wildwood	Missouri	$135,202	35,459
30	East Honolulu	Hawaii	$133,165	47,540
31	Ashburn	Virginia	$132,331	49,848
32	Oakton	Virginia	$132,256	36,997
33	Plainfield	Illinois	$130,614	43,110
34	Milton	Georgia	$128,559	38,759
35	Burlingame	California	$128,447	30,576
36	Pacifica	California	$125,500	38,984
37	Northbrook	Illinois	$124,863	33,343
38	Campbell	California	$124,525	42,221
39	Morgan Hill	California	$124,419	44,686
40	Upper Arlington	Ohio	$123,548	35,299
41	Fair Lawn borough	New Jersey	$123,159	33,017
42	Franklin Town	Massachusetts	$122,607	33,256
43	Trumbull	Connecticut	$122,451	35,976
44	Coppell	Texas	$122,340	41,645
45	Rancho Santa Margarita	California	$121,017	48,503
46	Eldersburg	Maryland	$120,688	31,108
47	Savage	Minnesota	$119,291	31,254
48	Pleasant Hill	California	$118,947	34,840
49	Elmhurst	Illinois	$118,609	46,463
50	Oceanside	New York	$118,196	30,604

Most Affluent Small Cities: 50,000 to 100,000 Residents

Cities with between 50,000 and 100,000 residents had top 50 median household incomes ranging from between $107,908 and $174,003. The median household income among the top 50 cities was $117,157. California also led this list with 23 of the top 50, followed by Minnesota with four cities, and Virginia, Washington, and Maryland with three cities each.

Rank	City	State	Median Household Income (2019)	Population (2019)
1	Sammamish	Washington	$174,003	64,674
2	Cupertino	California	$171,917	60,257
3	Bethesda	Maryland	$164,142	63,195
4	San Ramon	California	$160,783	75,648
5	Palo Alto	California	$158,271	66,573
6	Pleasanton	California	$156,400	81,717
7	Newton	Massachusetts	$151,068	88,593
8	Dublin	California	$150,299	61,240
9	Hoboken	New Jersey	$147,620	53,193
10	Mountain View	California	$139,720	81,656
11	Flower Mound	Texas	$137,285	76,555
12	Milpitas	California	$132,320	79,517
13	Redmond	Washington	$132,188	65,558
14	Ellicott City	Maryland	$131,534	72,665
15	Yorba Linda	California	$129,995	67,725
16	Livermore	California	$127,452	89,699
17	Newport Beach	California	$127,223	85,694
18	Levittown	New York	$124,995	51,634
19	Johns Creek	Georgia	$122,514	83,999
20	Reston	Virginia	$120,396	61,147
21	Eastvale	California	$119,213	62,046
22	Mission Viejo	California	$118,477	95,516
23	Centreville	Virginia	$118,158	74,125
24	Brookline	Massachusetts	$117,326	59,180
25	Kirkland	Washington	$117,190	89,438
26	Redwood City	California	$117,123	85,784
27	Encinitas	California	$116,022	62,780
28	Union City	California	$114,681	74,722
29	Leesburg	Virginia	$114,444	52,994
30	Folsom	California	$114,405	78,159
31	Collierville	Tennessee	$113,996	50,086
32	Alpharetta	Georgia	$113,802	65,590
33	Redondo Beach	California	$113,499	67,423
34	Bowie	Maryland	$113,338	58,481
35	Carmel	Indiana	$112,765	97,464
36	Aliso Viejo	California	$112,689	50,663
37	Eden Prairie	Minnesota	$111,981	64,179
38	Apex	North Carolina	$111,435	51,370
39	Parker	Colorado	$110,934	54,352
40	San Clemente	California	$110,434	64,878
41	Lakeville	Minnesota	$110,212	63,915
42	Castle Rock	Colorado	$109,700	62,417
43	Maple Grove	Minnesota	$109,557	70,627
44	Lake Forest	California	$109,492	83,974
45	Fishers	Indiana	$109,454	90,332
46	Brentwood	California	$108,994	61,961
47	Woodbury	Minnesota	$108,539	69,906
48	Laguna Niguel	California	$108,537	65,808
49	Castro Valley	California	$108,488	63,013
50	Weston	Florida	$107,908	70,614

Methodology

AdvisorSmith used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey on median household income and population to find the most affluent small cities in the United States. We defined small cities as cities, towns, villages, boroughs, and census-designated places with between 10,000 and 100,000 residents. We used five-year estimates from the 2019 release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

We also further subdivided small cities into one of three groups based on population size. The first group of small cities had populations between 10,000 and 30,000 residents. The next group had between 30,000 and 50,000 residents, and the third group had between 50,000 and 100,000 residents.

For each small city, we found the median household income as reported by the U.S. Census. We then ranked the cities by their median household income and published the top 50 small cities in each population group as the most affluent small cities in the United States.

Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey