The wealthiest towns in the United States, much to the surprise to many, are small ski towns located in the mountains and national parks. In a recent report from ski.curbed.com, the top five wealthiest towns are as follows:
- Summit Park Utah. This quaint ski town in Utah tops the list of wealthiest towns in the country. According to a report from Bloomberg.com, the estimated median income of a household in the town is at $83,336 and its median home value is estimated at $485,700.
- Edwards, Colorado. This town nestled in the Rockies comes in second with a median household income estimated at $74,456 with a median home valuation of $453,300, according to the same Bloomberg news report.
- Jackson, Wyoming-Idaho. This town at the edge of Yellowstone and two other national parks, comes in third with a household median income of $62,291 and a median home value of $394,300, according to the same report.
- Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts. This is not a ski town but a resorts town as well, nestled by the bay and the ocean. The median household income for this town is at $66,288 with a median home valuation of $665,300.
- Breckenridge, Colorado. This ski town has a median household income of $63,697 and a median home valuation of $460,000.
These five towns, called micropolitan areas by the US Census Bureau, have an average population between 10,000 and 50,000. Clearly, all these five towns are tourism and recreation destinations. Many of them have a large population of second home owners, able to afford the costs of travel and maintaining several homes, according to the same curbed.com report.
One such peculiarity in the ranking is Vineyard Haven, whose median income is higher than the third highest, which is Jackson. This is due to the smaller percentage of households with incomes at $200,000 of the former with the latter. Thus, the smaller percentage weight had to come in at a lower ranking for the listing.
