Nearly every day, someone sends me a story with a Westport ranking.
Our school system is #1 (or #5 or #163) in the state (or nation).
We are the 13th most livable community in the country, or the 29th safest.
We have the most dogs per capita in Connecticut. Or Teslas. Or toaster ovens.
Most of those emails are quickly deleted. Statistical parameters are arbitrary. Some of the surveys are contradictory (Staples is rising in the rankings! No, it’s falling!) The stories themselves are clickbait.
But here’s one worth publishing. It’s based on fairly hard data.
And, on this slow news day, it’s sure to generate comments.
Bloomberg has just released its list of “America’s 100 Richest Places.” The only criterion: average household income (according to 2016 US Census data).
The richest community in the country is Atherton, California. That Silicon Valley town — near Stanford University, Facebook headquarters and other wealthy, high-status, high-tech stuff — had an average household income of $443,400.
A typical house in Atherton, California …
Scarsdale, New York was 3rd ($387,600). The first Connecticut town was Old Greenwich (#7, $334,900). Darien was 10th ($327,900).
Westport is the 3rd Connecticut town on the list. We check in at #19. Our 2016 average household was $282,400.
Let the comments begin.
(Click here for the full Bloomberg story. Hat tip: Avi Kaner)
… and a typical one in Westport. (Okay, it was recently sold by a guy named Harvey Weinstein.)
