Here’s Where Mecklenburg County Ranks In Income

CHARLOTTE, NC — New numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau show household incomes in North Carolina trails the nation overall. The agency released its “2013-2017 American Community Survey Five-year Estimates” last week.

Overall, income has increased across the country, the numbers showed. The nation’s median household income from 2013-17 was $57,652. That was up 8.7 percent from 2008 to 2012 when the median household took home $53,046. That number includes all households, including people who live alone.

The median household in North Carolina earned $50,320 between 2013-17, according to the survey. That was up compared to the previous period, when households brought home $46,450.

Here are the top 10 highest earning counties in that period.

1. Loudoun County, Virginia — $129,588
2. Fairfax County, Virginia — $117,515
3. Howard County, Maryland — $115,576
4. Falls Church City, Virginia — $114,795
5. Arlington County, Virginia — $112,138
6. Douglas County, Colorado — $111,154
7. Hunterdon County, New Jersey — $110,969
8. Los Alamos County, New Mexico — $110,190
9. Morris County, New Jersey — $107,034
10. Fairfax city, Virginia — $106,870

Of note, median incomes increased in 16.6 percent of all counties, but 7.1 percent of counties saw incomes fall. A map provided by the Census Bureau showed many of the highest earners reside in the Northeast and the West. Some are scattered throughout Texas as well. Conversely, a large swath of households in the South earned less than $40,000 a year, lagging behind the the nation.

Indeed, 34 of the lowest earning counties in America are located in the South. That includes Kentucky’s McCreary County, located near the Tennessee border, which brought home less income than every other county in America from 2013-17 at $19,264 a year. McCreary residents actually earned more between 2008 and 2012, when the median household income was $21,785.

The dataset looked at dozens of social, economic, housing and demographic topics for every county in America. There are 3,142 of them, to be exact, and the survey is the only full data set available for 2,316 counties with populations too small to produce a complete set of single-year survey estimates, the agency said in a release. That allows for “detailed profiles” of communities nationwide.

“The ACS is an ongoing survey that offers vital information on a yearly basis about our nation and its people,” said Victoria Velkoff, associate director for demographic programs. “It’s our country’s largest source of small area estimates for socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Information from the survey generates data that help determine how more than $675 billion in federal and state funds are distributed each year.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Mark Lennihan/Associated Press