Metro Areas With Fastest Rising Income

There's a saying that "the rich get richer", and that seems to be the case when talking about recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau for median household income. When looking at the years 2010-2018, San Jose households had the most significant increase of 33.6%, from $86,000 to $115,000.  Following closely, San Francisco grew 31.5% from 2010-2018, starting at nearly $76,000 and ending at over $99,000.  Austin, Texas grew 27.4% over that time span, beginning at nearly $58,000 and ending at over $73,000 dollars. 

At the other end of the spectrum are cities such as Las Vegas which grew a stagnant 1% from 2010-2018, starting at $56,258 and growing only to $56,802. Next comes Orlando, FL which grew a mere 8.7% over the span of those 8 years. Orlando started at $50,780 and grew only to $55,191. Similarly, New Orleans showed a growth of only 8.8%, starting at $47,765 and growing to $51,952. 

Places in the US Ranked in Order of Income Growth Speed

The Top 10: 

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA- 33.6%- $86,222- $115,159
2. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA-31.5% -  $75,713- $99,558
3. Austin-Round Rock, TX- 27.4%-$57,689- $73,476
4. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA- 27.2% -  $65,393- $83,164
5. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA- 24.8% -$56,706-$70,747
6. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO- 24.5%  -$61,534-$76,626
7. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH- 22.8%-    $70,307-$86,306
8. Salt Lake City, UT- 22.5%- $58,144-$71,219
9. Pittsburgh, PA- 22.1%- $47,757-$58,300
10. Oklahoma City, OK- 21.7%-  $47,193-$57,436

The Bottom 10:

     41.  Memphis, TN-MS-AR- 12.0%- $46,198-    $51,746  
     42. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA- 12.0%-$58,873-$65,932 
     43.Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL- 11.9%- $48,429- $54,202  
     44. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ- 11.6%- $54,721- $61,068    
     45. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI- 11.5%- $53,382- $59,516  
     46. Jacksonville, FL, 10.7%-$53,634- $59,347  
     47. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA- 9.3%- $56,857-  $62,155   
     48. New Orleans-Metairie, LA- 8.8% -$47,765-$51,952   
     49. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL- 8.7%-$50,780- $55,191 
     50. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise,NV- 1.0%-$56,258-$56,802

Another topic to consider when learning about the income growth in various areas of the United States is the cost of living. 

BestPlaces has a function on our website just for that called the 2020 Cost of Living Calculator where one can answer a few short, simple questions in order to determine how much more or less they need to make to maintain their current level of living in a different area!