Howard County Is Richest In Maryland

The richest counties in each state have median household incomes ranging from $58,000 up to $129,000. In Maryland, the wealthiest county is at the upper end of that spectrum.

In Howard County — the richest county in Maryland — the typical household rakes in about $115,576 a year, according to a report published Wednesday by the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St.

That’s about $36,660 more than the typical Maryland household, the study found.

Here’s what the report had to say about Howard County:

Howard County, Maryland, is one of the wealthiest counties nationwide, with the typical household earning more than $115,000 per year. Residents are also among the least likely to face poverty, as just 5.2% live below the poverty line. Nationwide, 14.6% of Americans live in poverty.

The area’s high incomes are partially attributable to high educational attainment. Howard is one of just seven counties nationwide in which at least 60% of adults have a four-year college degree. This means that residents are more likely to be qualified for high-paying careers. The county is within commuting distance of both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and most working residents commute to jobs outside of Howard County.

Across the country, the typical household in the wealthiest counties earned between $58,000 and $130,000 a year, with Loudoun County, Virginia, coming in as the richest county in America. The study's authors said Loudoun’s proximity to Washington, D.C., and access to “countless jobs” help bolster its strong unemployment rate of just 2.3 percent, well below the national rate of 3.8 percent. Moreover, many of those jobs are high-skilled — and high-paying.

About 60 percent of adults in Loudoun County have earned at least a bachelor’s degree — about twice as many as the country overall — and the typical household earns about $130,000 a year, the highest income of any county by more than $12,000.

Other counties in the six-figure income club:

• Howard County, Maryland ($115,576)
• Douglas County, Colorado ($111,154)
• Hunterdon County, New Jersey ($110,969)
• Los Alamos County, New Mexico ($110,190)
• Santa Clara County, California ($106,761)
• Nassau County, New York ($105,744)
• Williamson County, Tennessee ($103,543)
• Delaware County, Ohio ($100,229)

Meanwhile, Arizona’s Maricopa County earned the lowest amount out of all the wealthiest counties at $58,580. That’s about $5,000 more than what the typical Arizona household earns. Interestingly, Maricopa County is actually the only Arizona county that earns more than the national median of $58,580.

“While it is the wealthiest in the state, the county’s median of $58,580 is only slightly higher than that of the nation,” the authors noted.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

File photo of Bollman Bridge courtesy of Howard County government.