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Richest Metro Areas in the U.S.

There are 56 metro areas in the United States with a population over 1 million. Which ones have the highest median household income?
For the year 2021, according to the U.S. Census
Areas within the same Combined Statistical Area (CSA) marked with the same color
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 18, 2022
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First submittedSeptember 26, 2019
Times taken23,860
Average score70.0%
Rating4.25
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$
Metro Area
139,892
San Jose
116,005
San Francisco
110,355
Washington D.C.
101,721
Seattle
100,750
Boston
91,003
San Diego
90,716
Denver
$
Metro Area
90,704
Honolulu
87,433
Minneapolis
86,530
Austin
86,302
Baltimore
85,303
Raleigh
84,421
Sacramento
84,409
New York City
$
Metro Area
83,943
Portland
82,503
Los Angeles
82,258
Hartford
81,307
Salt Lake City
80,007
Philadelphia
78,166
Chicago
+13
Level 73
Sep 29, 2019
I'm not sure having a higher median income necessarily equates to being the "wealthiest." For example, I live between Sacramento and the bay area and these income numbers don't go very far with the cost of living here. But if I was making $71k in Boise or Little Rock, I could be living a much wealthier lifestyle.
+11
Level 89
Oct 2, 2019
Welcome to statistics. Statistics always lie.
+31
Level 86
Oct 12, 2019
Nowhere on this quiz does it say that these are the 15 urban areas with the highest quality of living. I'm fairly comfortable with "more money = wealthier." No claims are being made as to what you can or can't do with that money.

As the Beatles said, money can't buy you love. And as Homer Simpson said, it can't buy you a dinosaur.

+2
Level 89
Oct 18, 2022
Make twice as much money where a house costs 4 times as much, etc. doesn't really make anyone wealthier.
+1
Level 67
Oct 19, 2022
It depends on how you define "wealth", I guess.
+1
Level 82
Nov 23, 2022
It's not like there's no correlation between wealth as measured here and high standards of living; and there's no lie in the statistics unless you infer one that's not there.
+4
Level 72
Nov 20, 2019
No Richmond?
+1
Level 68
Nov 26, 2023
Maybe not above 1 million in the metro area
+3
Level 72
Nov 20, 2019
Somewhat surprised that nowhere in Texas -- e.g. Austin -- has made it onto this list yet.
+4
Level 62
Apr 30, 2021
Texas is rapidly urbanizing and cities like Austin are rapidly becoming richer, but the cost of living is lower here, which equals lower incomes.
+6
Level 79
Oct 18, 2022
Austin is on the list now
+1
Level 15
Nov 26, 2022
Yep, and cost of living in Texas will be just as bad as California, so not much better really
+2
Level 65
Jul 25, 2020
Maybe accept St. Paul in the Minneapolis one?
+2
Level 57
Jan 14, 2021
Really suprised Hartford has 1 million, didnt even cross my mind because of the caveat. I guess Connecticut has such a high population density
+1
Level 71
Feb 25, 2021
Plus, the metro area reaches into Springfield.
+2
Level 89
Oct 18, 2022
Actually it doesn't. The Census Bureau is pretty arbitrary about which contiguous urban areas it combines.
+1
Level 89
Oct 18, 2022
Hartford and other older cities restricted to small boundaries get hampered in all sorts of ways, including statistics.

Hartford is technically penned into 17 square miles, while San Antonio gobbles up 500, Austin 320, Oklahoma City 600, etc. Such discrepancies even cause giant suburbs to be named the primary "city" instead of the established urban core, like Virginia Beach (Norfolk), Cape Coral (Fort Myers), San Jose (San Francisco)...

+1
Level 43
Feb 4, 2022
Is my brain square and I am just not getting it but places like Denver as of 2022 have a population of around ~700k and In the description it says only places with a population over 1 million
+3
Level 95
Oct 18, 2022
It's based on the metro area population, not the city proper. The Denver metro area population is almost 3M.
+2
Level 46
Jun 24, 2022
Can you accept St. Paul for Minneapolis?
+1
Level 70
Oct 19, 2022
They are two different cities.
+2
Level 67
Oct 19, 2022
But they're twins.
+3
Level 86
Oct 19, 2022
And they (roughly equally, although MPLS is sliiiiightly bigger) both represent a single metropolitan area.
+2
Level 88
Oct 19, 2022
Was surprised by Hartford. I didn't try any Connecticut cities, figuring they would either be included in the New York or Boston metro areas or wouldn't be big enough.
+5
Level 72
Oct 30, 2022
When I think of Baltimore, I'm not thinking "fabulously wealthy."
+7
Level 70
Nov 23, 2022
Maryland suburbs are super rich off of DC money. Baltimore city itself is just kind of... there.
+1
Level 84
Jan 19, 2023
I'm not thinking wealthy when I think of DC either. Must be offset by politicians having residences there.
+1
Level 76
Nov 24, 2022
I thought San Jose was considered part of the San Francisco metro area?
+1
Level 64
Nov 24, 2022
I thought so too. It was helpful that the CSAs are color-coded; otherwise I wouldn't have guessed San Jose at all.
+2
Level 72
Jan 22, 2023
In order to adjust for differences in costs of living, I divided each metro area's median household income by its AdvisorSmith City Cost of Living Index (and re-normalized by multiplying by 100).

Here are the richest metro areas by cost-of-living-adjusted median household income (1m+ population metros only):

1. Washington, DC ($91,886)

2. Raleigh ($85,560)

3. Sacramento ($84,384)

4. Minneapolis ($82,954)

5. Seattle ($81,638)

6. Austin ($81,173)

7. Denver ($80,924)

8. Kansas City ($80,677)

9. Baltimore ($80,656)

10. San Jose ($80,629)

11. Hartford ($78,490)

12. St. Louis ($78,336)

13. Chicago ($78,088)

14. Indianapolis ($77,854)

15. Philadelphia ($77,376)

16. Atlanta ($77,357)

17. Dallas ($77,132)

18. Grand Rapids, MI ($76,856)

19. Salt Lake City ($76,777)

20. Cincinnati ($76,643)

+2
Level 72
Jan 22, 2023
And the poorest:

1. Honolulu ($57,408)

2. Miami ($57,960)

3. Los Angeles ($58,679)

4. Fresno ($60,110)

5. New Orleans ($61,512)

6. Tampa ($62,082)

7. Tucson ($62,095)

8. Las Vegas ($63,234)

9. Memphis ($63,311)

10. Orlando ($64,039)

11. Buffalo ($64,536)

12. San Francisco ($64,952)

13. New York City ($65,945)

14. Providence ($66,178)

15. Riverside ($66,338)

16. San Diego ($66,816)

17. Birmingham ($66,951)

18. Tulsa ($68,854)

19. Rochester, NY ($68,857)

20. Jacksonville ($69,085)

+2
Level 72
Jan 22, 2023
Full data here
+1
Level 63
Mar 12, 2024
Really interesting. I live in one of the top five listed locations, and I can tell you even here it's not that great. We're all just really pretty screwed then it would seem. :(
+1
Level ∞
Mar 12, 2024
You should definitely spend some time in Africa or India. It will radically changed your perspective.