9 of the ‘100 richest places’ are in the DC area

This colonial style home in McClean, Virginia, was built in 1989. It has 6 full baths and 7 bedrooms and was sold for $4,175,000 on Sept. 5. It went on the market back in January. (Courtesy Bright MLS)
This Colonial style home in McLean, Virginia, is worth millions. (Courtesy Bright MLS)

Bloomberg’s annual list of the “Richest Places” includes nine communities in the D.C. area in the top 100, led by Great Falls, Virginia.

The list is based on average household income.

Great Falls ranks No. 20 on the list, down from No. 16 last year, with an average household income of $311,255. While Great Falls came in slightly lower on this year’s list, its average household income is still up 2.7% from last year’s list.

Just 16 states account for the 100 richest places, led by California, which has 23 entries on this year’s list, and New Jersey, with 16 entries.

Maryland ranks sixth among states, with six entries on this year’s list.

Atherton, California, in Silicon Valley, ranks No. 1 for the fourth consecutive year, with an average household income of $525,324. That is up 16.6% from last year’s list.

Scarsdale, New York, ranks No. 2, with an average household income of $452,041.

Hillsborough, California, Cherry Hills Village, Colorado and Los Altos Hills, California, round out the top five.

The Bloomberg list includes places with at least 2,000 households that are census-designated places.

Here are the nine places in the D.C. region in the top 100 on Bloomberg’s 2020 Richest Places in America list:

20 (16) Great Falls, Virginia, $311,255 +2.7%
25 (24) Travilah, Maryland, $300,607 +5.6%
30 (25) McLean, Virginia, $293,323 +3.3%
47 (42) Wolf Trap, Virginia, $265,175 +1.4%
50 (71) Darnestown, Maryland, $262,988 +15.3%
54 (52) Chevy Chase, Maryland, $251,144 +3.1%
56 (50) Potomac, Maryland, $248,797 +0.2%
82 (78) Bethesda, Maryland, $229,734 _3.1%
96 (109) South Kensington, Maryland $221,621 +7.7%

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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