Cash and clout
2 Fort Worth neighbors rank among 100 richest cities in the country
Life is good for residents of two Northeast Tarrant County cities, which now rank among the 100 wealthiest communities in the country, according to a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
The analysis, done by the Bloomberg news service, also shows the average household income in both Southlake and Colleyville rose from 2015 to 2016.
- Southlake comes in at No. 40, with household income of $252,415 in 2016, up 3.9 percent from $243,029 a year earlier.
- Colleyville appears at No. 81, with household income of $209,259 in 2016, up 0.9 percent from $207,438 a year earlier.
Elsewhere in DFW, the rich are getting much richer in Highland Park. The Dallas community now ranks ninth among the wealthiest places in the U.S, up from 14th last year. Average household income rose 9 percent there from 2015 to 2016, from $303,332 to $330,703 — a difference of $27,371.
Bloomberg attributes its climb up the wealth ladder to its location in a state that lacks an income tax and to “its relatively low overall tax burden.”
At No. 17 on Bloomberg’s list is a Highland Park neighbor, University Park, where average household income was $286,107 in 2016, up 9.8 percent from $260,497 a year earlier.
Twenty-one of the wealthiest cities on Bloomberg’s list are in California, with the majority in the San Francisco Bay Area. In all, six communities in Texas make the list; four of them are in DFW. The two others are in the Houston area:
- West University Place takes the No. 11 spot, with average household income in 2016 of $317,665, up 8.5 percent from $292,902 a year earlier.
- Bellaire lands at No. 44, with average household income in 2016 of $247,367, up 3.5 percent from $239,105 a year earlier.
No cities in the Austin or San Antonio areas cracked Bloomberg’s top 100.