Oakland and Livingston Counties Spar Over First-World Problem

This is a first-world problem if ever there were one.

Officials in Livingston and Oakland counties are sparring over which is the richest.

The Delaware-based financial news and opinion website 24/7 Wall St. – whose editor-in-chief is Oakland County native Douglas McIntyre – says Livingston County is Michigan’s most affluent.

But if you ask Oakland County officials, that’s just plain wrong.

Sure, Livingston County’s median household income is a robust $72,329, compared with the state median of $48,411, and 4.8 percent of households are earning $200,000 or more a year.

“The high incomes in Livingston County likely helped residents purchase their homes. More than 85 percent of housing units in the area were owned by their occupants over the five years through 2013, one of the highest homeownership rates nationwide,” 24/7 Wall St. said.

Oakland County’s median income during the same five-year period ending in 2013 wasn’t anemic, but was several thousand dollars lower at $65,594, according to the analysis.

Well, sure, if you want to lose those numbers, Oakland County officials gulped in good-natured mock shock. As home to some of Michigan’s most exclusive estates, the suburban county consistently claims bragging rights as one of the wealthiest areas of the country.

Which Story Do You Want to Tell?

An economics professor at Oakland University is among those dismissing the findings.

For one thing, 2010 U.S. Census results show great disparity in the populations of Oakland County (1.2 million) and Livingston County (181,0000).

“In a way, this is nothing new ... because (Livingston) is such a smaller county,” Ronald Tracy, associate professor of economics, told The Oakland Press. “It’s hard to compare apples to apples.

“The issue of which measure you choose to use depends on which story you want to tell,” said Tracy, also the director of the Southeast Michigan Economic Survey, which does its own data analyses.

By other measures, Oakland County residents still earn more in individual and family income.

In a statement refuting the 24/7 Wall St. analysis, an Oakland County economic development official said 24/7 Wall St.’s report relied on household income estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which he said has a significant margin-of-error.

“It is based on averages of small sample surveys over the five years and does not include income from sources such as capital gains,” said Dan Riley of Oakland County’s Department of Economic Development and Community Affairs.

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His department uses income data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), which he said is a more accurate measure of wealth because it includes capital gains and other non-regular payments, and measures personal or per capita income instead of household income.

Using the BEA analysis, the five wealthiest counties in Michigan are:

1. Oakland County,$57,035
2. Leelanau County, $51,589
3. Midland County, $46,228
4. Livingston County, $44,800
5. Washtenaw County, $43,927

Slower Economic Recovery in Michigan

Livingston County needn’t get too heady over the report flaunting its affluence. At. No 22, it’s far from the richest county in the country. Loudoun County, VA, claims that honor with a median household income of $122,238.

Still, Phil Santer, senior business development manager at Ann Arbor SPARK, said Livingston County’s ranking shows Michigan is rebounding from the Great Recession.

“It’s a feather in the cap of Livingston County and the community, but I think it’s a great indication of the state’s rebound as well,” Santer said. “About 27 percent of Livingston residents are working in the county, so about three-quarters of them are (commuting to work) someplace else. It just shows Michigan’s rebound in general.”

The 24/7 Wall St. group wasn’t quite as generous.

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“While Livingston residents tended to be wealthier than most Americans, the unemployment rate of 8.1 percent in 2013 was higher than the national rate,” the 24/7 Wall St. said. “In addition, across the state, residents were not particularly well-off, as a typical family in Michigan earned $48,411 annually over that period, considerably less than the national median income for that time.”

Nationally, the typical family earned $53,046.

Though Oakland County officials made no secret about their thoughts that the methodology was flawed, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson magnanimously praised Livingston County.

“Livingston County is a vital partner in our seven-county Economic Growth Alliance (EGA),” Patterson said. “When one of the EGA partners does well, we all benefit.”

Lack of Education Likely Factor in Poorest County

In a separate report, 24/7 Wall St. ranked the nation’s poorest counties.

Lake County has Michigan’s lowest household income, according to the five-year 2013 estimates, with $29,379. The poverty rate among the county’s 11,539 residents was 27.9 percent during the five-year period. The county, which is located in the northwest Lower Peninsula, ranked No. 22 on the list of the nation’s poorest counties.

The county’s unemployment rate – 13.1 percent during the period – was still nearly 12 percent in 2013, 24/7 Wall St. noted.

“Low college attainment rates may also explain in part the low incomes,” the study’s authors said. “Just 8.4 percent of area adults had attained at least a bachelor’s degree during the five years through 2013, one of the lowest figures reviewed.”