The 10 "Real" Richest Counties in the U.S.

People living in the richest counties in America enjoy high incomes without the heavy cost pressures that usually come with them.

Franklin, Tennessee-June 29, 2016: New traditionally styled homes in Westhaven, an upscale planned community in Franklin, Tennessee.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The richest counties in the U.S. are found about where one would expect. The metro areas of Washington, D.C. dominate the list, and rich counties from around the country are represented, including Colorado, Ohio and Tennessee.  

Metro areas from New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area are notably absent. Take a look at the 10 Most Expensive Places to Live to see the off-the-charts cost of living in these areas. That factor may have kept them off the list.  

But as is usually the case with such things, the richest counties in the U.S. also tend to be the most expensive counties. So, although residents of the richest counties might enjoy the highest incomes, they also often bear the highest costs of living.

In the real world, purchasing power and the number of digits on a paycheck are not necessarily the same thing. That's especially true in some of the richest counties in America, where sky-high costs of living can reduce real incomes by tens of thousands of dollars.

And so we decided to find the "real" richest counties in America. Thanks to data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), we were able to locate the counties with the highest median incomes, and then adjust those incomes to account for the counties' costs of living.

This cost-of-living adjustment gives a much more pragmatic picture of the richest counties in the U.S. It shows where the highest incomes go the farthest – not just who's winning the paycheck race.

That's the key point here: The real richest counties in America are not automatically the highest income or most expensive counties. Keeping costs in check is a critical component of financial health for folks of all income levels.

That's why many of America's real richest counties are found in some surprising places.

So, have a look at the 10 real richest counties in the U.S. Many of these names made the list because they enjoy high incomes without the heavy cost pressures that such incomes usually create. Counties are listed by cost-adjusted median household income, from lowest to highest.

Disclaimer

Data from the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Source: Cost of Living Adjusted Median Household Incomes, based on 2023 county-level income data from the Census Bureau's Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The median income for each county is divided by the county-level index number and then multiplied by 100.  By factoring in the Cost of Living, the adjusted income provides a more accurate picture of the relative buying power of households within each county. Population data, household incomes, home values, poverty rates, and other demographic information are from the U.S. Census Bureau. Local unemployment rates, courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, are not seasonally adjusted and are as of July 17, 2025, for May 2025, which is the latest available final data. 

Dan Burrows
Senior Investing Writer, Kiplinger.com

Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the publication full time in 2016.

A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and other tier 1 national publications. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among many other outlets. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.

In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about markets and macroeconomics.

Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.

Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.