The 'Richest' Place In Washington Is One You've Never Heard Of

WOODINVILLE, WA - The richest town in Washington isn't a town at all.

The finance website 24/7 Wall Street calculated the richest "town" in each state, meaning any place with between 1,000 and 25,000 residents. In Washington, Cottage Lake came out on top. More of an area, Cottage Lake includes a chunk of Woodinville and parts of unincorporated King and Snohomish counties.

Here are the stats 24/7 Wall Street came up with to name Cottage Lake the richest around:

• Median household income: $134,107 (state: $62,848)
• Households earning $200,000 or more: 29.4% (state: 6.3%)
• Adults with at least a bachelor’s degree: 60.8% (state: 33.6%)
• Median home value: $624,900 (state: $269,300)
• Population: 23,845

(An important note: there aren't many towns in Washington. Most places are either a city (Woodinville, Seattle, Issaquah, Enumclaw, etc.) or unincorporated. There are only a handful of towns in King County, including Beaux Arts Village, Hunts Point, Vashon, and Yarrow Point. Cottage Lake, however, is neither a town nor a city.)

"The median annual household income in the Seattle suburb of Cottage Lake of $134,107 is the highest of any town in Washington. In most towns on this list, serious financial hardship is relatively scarce, and Cottage Lake is no exception. Just 3.0% of the town’s population lives below the poverty line, less than a fourth of the state poverty rate of 12.7% and a fifth of the U.S. poverty rate of 15.1%," 24/7 Wall Street wrote of Cottage Lake.

Cottage Lake is pretty sleepy, but it does have one of the most splendid lakes around.

Image courtesy Google Maps