The Richest County In Illinois May Surprise You

ILLINOIS — It’s not uncommon to find a dog wearing a sweater in America. But you might look twice if that pooch is wearing Prada. And while we’re not dogging all the stylish Scotties out there, a new report suggests you might find them in Kendall County — a potentially surprising pick which was just named the richest county in Illinois.

The typical household in the county rakes in about $89,860 a year, according to a report published Wednesday by the financial news and opinion site 24/7 Wall St. That’s about $28,631 more than the typical Illinois household, the authors found.

Here’s what the authors had to say:

"The county is within the Chicago metro area, offering residents access to jobs in and around the city. The median household income in the county $89,860 a year is more than $28,000 higher than the median in Illinois as a whole. Just 5.6% of county residents live below the poverty rate, while statewide, the poverty rate is more than twice as high at 13.5%."

Across the country, the typical household in the wealthiest counties earned between $58,000 and $130,000 a year, with Loudoun County, Virginia, coming in as the richest county in America. The authors said Loudoun’s proximity to Washington, D.C., and access to “countless jobs” help bolster its strong unemployment rate of just 2.3 percent, well below the national rate of 3.8 percent. Moreover, many of those jobs are high-skilled — and high-paying.

About 60 percent of adults in Loudoun County have earned at least a bachelor’s degree — about twice as many as the country overall — and the typical household earns about $130,000 a year, the highest income of any county by more than $12,000.

Other counties in the six-figure income club include Howard County, Maryland ($115,576); Douglas County, Colorado ($111,154); Hunterdon County, New Jersey ($110,969); Los Alamos County, New Mexico ($110,190); Santa Clara County, California ($106,761); Nassau County, New York ($105,744); Williamson County, Tennessee ($103,543); and Delaware County, Ohio ($100,229).

Meanwhile, Arizona’s Maricopa County earned the lowest amount out of all the wealthiest counties at $58,580. That’s about $5,000 more than what the typical Arizona household earns. Interestingly, Maricopa County is actually the only Arizona county that earns more than the national median of $58,580.

“While it is the wealthiest in the state, the county’s median of $58,580 is only slightly higher than that of the nation,” the authors noted.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo via realtor.com