Seeing dollar signs
4 Dallas-Fort Worth counties rate among 10 wealthiest in Texas, report says
On the heels of a report that named Rockwall County the richest county in Texas based on median household income, another survey shows three other North Texas counties aren't doing too bad, either.
A new ranking from personal finance website SmartAsset lists Collin, Dallas, Rockwall, and Denton counties among the wealthiest in Texas. SmartAsset based its ranking on a county’s per capita income, as well as its median home value and per capita investment income.
"We calculated a Wealth Index for all U.S. counties based on a combination of these three metrics and ranked them accordingly to provide a holistic view of what areas of the U.S. are accumulating the most wealth," SmartAsset says.
Taking those factors into account, all four North Texas counties land in top-10 places on SmartAsset’s wealth index.
The Texas rankings are as follows:
- Midland County (Midland area). Per capita income: $126,631; median home value: $279,569; Per capita investment income: $59,283.
- Travis County (Austin area). Per capita income: $74,032; median home value: $519,353; per capita investment income: $38,381.
- Kendall County (San Antonio area). Per capita income: $84,853; median home value: $437,320; per capita investment income: $29,250.
- Collin County (Dallas-Fort Worth). Per capita income: $71,246; median home value: $448,781; per capita investment income: $15,499.
- Gillespie County (Hill Country). Per capita income: $68,885; median home value: $360,317; per capita investment income: $27,325.
- Glasscock County (east of Midland-Odessa). Per capita income: $87,334; median home value: $287,852; per capita investment income: $13,887.
- Dallas County (Dallas-Fort Worth). Per capita income: $65,401; median home value: $274,136; per capita investment income: $38,445.
- Rockwall County (Dallas-Fort Worth). Per capita income: $64,943; median home value: $379,075; per capita investment income: $15,668.
- Denton County (Dallas-Fort Worth). Per capita income: $63,283; median home value: $398,339; per capita investment income: $12,837.
- Comal County (San Antonio area). Per capita income: $62,994; median home value: $387,251; per capita investment income: $15,509.
Midland County, where the oil boom has created a gusher of wealth, holds the No. 1 spot. And, with many tech workers in Central Texas hauling in more than $100,000 a year and home values soaring, it stands to reason that Austin's Travis County (No. 2) is flush with cash.
“Austin was the nation’s most popular pandemic-fueled migration destination in early 2021 as remote workers flocked from pricey coastal job centers to comparatively affordable parts of the country — but now many buyers are priced out,” the a recent Redfin report said.
Of course, DFW has seen a population boom, too. Rockwall and Denton counties both ranked as top U.S. metro counties with the most growth in new housing units from 2010 to 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released last fall.
