King, Snohomish County Incomes Jump - But Drop In Pierce County

SEATTLE, WA - The median household in Washington earned $66,174 between 2013-17, according to new Census data. That was up compared to the previous period between 2008-12, when households brought in about $7,000 less.

Over the 2013-17 period Puget Sound's biggest counties, household earnings in King and Snohomish counties jumped - but dropped in Pierce County.

King County

• 2013-17 Median Income: $83,571
  
• 2008-12 Median Income: $71,175
  
• Rank 2013-17: 77
• Rank 2008-12: 123

Pierce County

Snohomish County

• 2013-17 Median Income: $78,020
• 2008-12 Median Income: $68,338
• Rank 2013-17: 125
• Rank 2008-12: 158

Virginia, which recently landed half of Amazon’s second headquarters, was home to four of the five counties with the highest median earnings, including Loudoun County, where the median household brought home more than $129,000 a year between 2013-17.

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 nation.

Indeed, 33 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 more than 3,000 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.

Patch file photo