A new household income study by GoBankingRates has revealed America’s wealthy are turning away from well known large cities like Los Angeles or New York City in favor of smaller suburbs – like West University Place and Bellaire in Houston – which were listed among the wealthiest American suburbs in 2024.
West University Place came out on top as the No. 3 wealthiest suburb in the nation, the report found, boasting the third-highest average household income out of all 50 cities in the report. A West U. household makes an average income of $403,845 a year, and the typical home in the suburb is valued at over $1.6 million.
There’s much to like about the area, such as the Colonial Park Pool, the West University Place Recreation Center, and 10 beautiful parks and playgrounds. West U. is near many great new local restaurants, like Magdalena’s Trattoria & Pizzeria and Maximo, which both opened earlier in 2024.
West U. also celebrated its centennial anniversary earlier this year, hosting a festival in May and publishing special coffee table book to commemorate the city’s history. Read CultureMap columnist and West U. resident Ken Hoffman’s thoughts on the city here.
Bellaire ranked farther down the list, at No. 25, with the average household making $294,605 annually. The report says the typical home in the city is worth nearly $1.08 million. The renowned family friendly city contains 14 parks, including the popular five-acre Evelyn’s Park, with its butterfly wall, art lawn, wildflower hill, walking trails, wide open spaces, and Betsy’s, a casual restaurant from the owners of Adair Kitchen.
According to The Evelyn’s Park Conservancy, the park was originally home to the first business in Bellaire, Teas Nursery, which closed in 2009. After its closure, local philanthropists Jerry and Maury Rubenstein acted to preserve the land for the city.
“The pair purchased and gifted the five-acre site to the city of Bellaire, under simple conditions: that it be used as parkland and that it be named in honor of their mother, Evelyn, a longtime Bellaire resident and philanthropist who shared the Teas’ love for the outdoors and the simple things that make it beautiful,” the park conservancy website says.
Elsewhere in Texas
West U. wasn’t the only Texas suburb to earn a spot in the top 10. University Park in Dallas ranked No. 6, and Southlake (located between Dallas and Fort Worth) ranked outside the top 10 as No. 13.
The report found the average household in University Park makes $381,235 a year, and the typical home is worth more than $2.3 million. In Southlake, the average household income amounts to more than $360,000 a year, and the average house is valued at over $1.24 million.
The top 10 wealthiest suburbs in America are:
- No. 1 – Scarsdale, New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
- No. 2 – Rye, New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey
- No. 3 – West University Place, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas
- No. 4 – Los Altos, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California
- No. 5 – Paradise Valley, Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Arizona
- No. 6 – University Park, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
- No. 7 – Hinsdale, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Illinois
- No. 8 – Great Falls, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Virginia-Maryland
- No. 9 – Orinda, San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, California
- No. 10 – Wellesley, Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Massachusetts
GoBankingRates examined all cities in the U.S. with a minimum of 5,000 households and ranked them based on the highest average household income. The report provided additional details like which metropolitan area the cities are in, plus each city’s typical home value in 2024.
The full report and its methodology can be found on gobankingrates.com.
