Westport Fifth Richest Town in Fairfield County

Westport’s household earnings are the fifth highest in Fairfield County and twice the county median, according to recent research.

The median income of a household in the town is $160,451.

In its town profiles, updated this month, the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. (CERC) listed income data for Fairfield County’s 23 towns.

Darien tops the rankings with median household income of $185,619, followed by New Canaan, Weston and Wilton. Bridgeport is bottom of the list with incomes on median of $36,250.

For the previous year (2009), the median household income in Westport was $155,614, putting it sixth on list, edged out by Easton at number five. Weston was top that year.

"Household" is a term preferred by economists to describe people living in the same residence. "Median" is a way of measuring typical amounts of a group by listing all the numbers in a data set and picking the middle number. In this case, half of all incomes in a particular city or town should be above the median income number, and half below.

The median income for the state is $65,686 and for Fairfield County is $77,620.

The figures are compiled by CERC DataFinder/AGS and are for 2010.

CERC describes itself on its website as a "a nonprofit corporation and public-private partnership that provides objective research, marketing and economic development resources consistent with our mission of making Connecticut a more competitive business environment."

Correction: A previous version of this article used the word "average" instead of "median."