Cash and clout
These 6 wealthy Texas communities rank among the 100 richest in America
Life is good for residents of six Texas communities that now rank among the 100 wealthiest in the country, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
The analysis was done by the Bloomberg news service. Twenty-one of the wealthiest cities on Bloomberg’s list are in California, with the majority in the San Francisco Bay Area. In Texas, there are four in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro and two in the Houston area.
Based on the 2016 data, Dallas' Highland Park sits at No. 9 among the country’s wealthiest communities and is the richest place in Texas, according to Bloomberg. Last year, Highland Park held down the No. 14 spot. In 2015, the average household income was $303,332. A year later, it had jumped 9 percent to $330,703 — a difference of $27,371. Bloomberg attributes Highland Park’s five-notch climb up the wealth ladder to its location in a state that lacks an income tax and to “its relatively low overall tax burden.”
Houston's West University Place takes the No. 11 spot. The wealthy neighborhood's average household income in 2016 reached $317,665, up 8.5 percent from $292,902 a year earlier.
At No. 17 on Bloomberg’s list is Dallas' University Park, a Highland Park neighbor, where the average household income was $286,107 in 2016, up 9.8 percent from $260,497 a year earlier.
Other wealthy Texas communities on Bloomberg's list include:
- Southlake (DFW), No. 40, with household income of $252,415 in 2016, up 3.9 percent from $243,029 a year earlier.
- Bellaire (Houston), No. 44, with household income of $247,367 in 2016, up 3.5 percent from $239,105 a year earlier.
- Colleyville (DFW), No. 81, with household income of $209,259 in 2016, up 0.9 percent from $207,438 a year earlier.
No cities in the Austin or San Antonio areas cracked Bloomberg’s top 100.