Wilton Fourth Richest Town in Fairfield County

Wilton is the fourth wealthiest town in Fairfield County, according to The Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc  which recently listed income data for Fairfield County’s 23 towns.

The median annual income in Wilton in 2010 was $170,711, down from $181,769 in 2009. The median income for Fairfield County in 2010 was $77,620, according to the report.

A similar decrease can be seen in Weston, Easton and Redding, the median incomes of which all of which dropped by $10,000-$11,000 dollars; however, Weston remains in third place, just a slot above Wilton.

Ridgefield’s median house-hold income decreased by about $5,000 from last year, down to $131,677. Darien is the wealthiest town in the Gold Coast, topping the ranks with a median household income of $185,619.

Although it may rank low in Fairfield County, Norwalk's median income figures—$71, 877—are still higher than the median figure for the entire state, and they aren't much lower than the median for even Fairfield County.

Bridgeport is at the bottom of the list with a median household income of $36,250. Danbury and Stratford also have lower household median incomes, according to the report.

"Household" is a term preferred by economists to describe people living in the same residence. "Median" is a way of measuring typical amounts of a group by listing all the numbers in a data set and picking the middle number. In this case, half of all incomes in a particular city or town should be above the median income number, and half below.

The median income for the state is $65,686. While the Fairfield County figure may seem low compared to the much higher numbers for most of the towns listed below, the populations of the largest municipalities with the lowest incomes—Bridgeport, Norwalk and Stamford—are at or near the bottom of the list.

These figures are compiled by CERC DataFinder/AGS and are for 2010:

Rank

Town

Median Household Income

1

Darien

$185,619

2

New Canaan

$180,434

3

Weston

$180,321

4

Wilton

$170,711

5

Westport

$160,451

6

Easton

$148,271

7

Ridgefield

$131,677

8

Greenwich

$130,498

9

Redding

$119,788

10

Newtown

$105,744

11

Fairfield

$103,754

12

New Fairfield

$100,202

13

Monroe

$100,172

14

Trumbull

$93,110

15

Brookfield

$92,731

16

Sherman

$90,638

17

Bethel

$77,625

18

Shelton

$76,084

19

Stamford

$73,034

20

Norwalk

$71,877

21

Danbury

$62,582

22

Stratford

$60,461

23

Bridgeport

$36,250

CERC describes itself on its website as a "a nonprofit corporation and public-private partnership that provides objective research, marketing and economic development resources consistent with our mission of making Connecticut a more competitive business environment."