Berkeley Lake Ranked Wealthiest City in Georgia

Recent data shows the city of is No. 1 in a top-10 list of the greatest number of households with incomes above $150,000, according to a recent report by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

It's not the first time this city of some 2,000 garnered the No. 1 spot on the top 10 list. The census report 10 years ago revealed the same data.

Berkeley Lake's mayor, Lois Salter, said she isn't exactly sure why the city seems to draw residents with a higher-than-average income.

The city does attract a number of people who enjoy the natural beauty of the community. "We do have a high concentration of artists who live here," she said. And Berkeley Lake also has a high number of people who operate computer-based businesses from their homes she said.

Ginny Nevins, a broker with Windsor Realty who sells homes in Berkeley Lake points to the fact that there are no apartment complex or condos within the city limits which typically draw people in lower-income brackets.

The city also has number of lake-front and river-front property which drives up the cost of a typical home. According to City-Data.com, the average price of a home in Berkeley Lake is over $428,000, and water-front homes sell for $750,000 to over $1 million.

Data was analyzed for 14,214 cities, towns and villages with populations of 1,000 or more to find the highest concentrations of households with incomes above $150,000 in 2009.

Below is a list of the top 10 wealthiest Georgia cities (or communities) along with the percentage of households with incomes above $150,000:

1. Berkeley Lake -- 41.23 percent
2. Milton -- 36.94 percent
3. Johns Creek -- 30.64 percent
4. Skidaway Island -- 27.26 percent
5. Dunwoody -- 26.58 percent
6. Druid Hills -- 26.51 percent
7. Sandy Springs -- 25.23 percent
8. Alpharetta -- 23.75 percent
9. Roswell -- 22.84 percent
10. Peachtree City -- 21.98 percent

According to the data, there were some 15 percent of households in Atlanta with households of $150,000 or more.

Click here to see how your Georgia city/area fared.