wealthiest suburbs – Scarsdale, New York, leads MoneyLion’s analysis of the 10 wealthiest U.S. suburbs by average household income in 2024, with West University Place and Rye following. The ranking—based on mean income and limited to suburbs with at least 5,000 households—also spo
When you look at the numbers, the wealth gap doesn’t spread out evenly across America—it clusters. And in MoneyLion’s latest ranking, that clustering is crystal clear in the place that sits at the very top.
Scarsdale. a suburb in New York’s Westchester County. is ranked the nation’s wealthiest suburb. based on an average household income of $612. 591 in 2024. according to an analysis released June 1 by the personal finance site MoneyLion. It is the kind of figure that immediately changes the tone of a commute. a school district. and a housing search.
West University Place, Texas, takes second place with an average household income of $439,594. Rye, New York, drops to third with $428,806—after placing second in a 2025 ranking.
MoneyLion’s methodology ranked the nation’s 50 most affluent suburbs by household income, using the 2024 American Community Survey. The list covers cities of at least 5,000 households that qualify as suburbs of larger cities, a statistical filter that shapes who makes the cut—and who doesn’t.
A closer look at the top 10 shows how much the map of affluence overlaps with familiar regional patterns. Eight of the 10 most affluent suburbs sit in California. New York and Texas. with the broader ranking pointing to wealth concentrated in a handful of metropolitan areas. including New York City. Houston. Dallas and San Francisco.
MoneyLion’s top tier is also dominated by suburbs where high earners can find what they want: strong schooling and high demand for a limited number of homes. Rudri Patel, a certified financial expert at MoneyLion, tied it directly to two forces.
“You’re looking at better schools. You’re looking at a limited housing supply,” Patel said.
That combination helps explain why the home values attached to these zip codes are often just as striking as the income figures. In Los Altos, California—the nation’s fourth-wealthiest suburb—the average home costs $4.8 million.
But Patel also warned that affluence brings its own vulnerabilities. In her view, wealthy suburbs can become magnets for crime that targets money and identity.
“Where you see affluence, you also see risk of identity theft and wire fraud and the potential for scams,” she said.
The top 10 wealthiest suburbs by average household income in the U.S., as presented in MoneyLion’s analysis, are:
Scarsdale, New York: average household income of $612,591 as of 2024. The average Scarsdale home is worth $1.7 million as of April 2026.
West University Place, Texas: average household income of $439,594. The average home is worth $1.7 million.
Rye, New York: average household income of $428,806. The average home value is $2.4 million.
Los Altos, California: household incomes average $417,182. The average home is worth $4.8 million.
Paradise Valley, Arizona: average household income of $408,500. Home values average $3.7 million. Paradise Valley didn’t appear in the 2025 rankings because it was too small—its household count didn’t reach 5,000 until 2024.
University Park, Texas: average household income of $407,253. Home values average $2.6 million.
Alamo, California: household incomes average $401,221. Home values average $2.6 million.
Southlake, Texas: household incomes average $384,530. Home values average $1.3 million.
McLean, Virginia: average household income of $379,689. Home prices average $1.8 million.
Orinda, California: household incomes average $376,741. Home values average $2 million.
Even within this list, the definitions matter. MoneyLion’s ranking uses mean household incomes, which can be skewed by the ultra-rich. Other rankings have looked at median incomes, which tend to be lower.
A median-income comparison changes the headline. By median income, the wealthiest U.S. city is Sammamish, Washington, a Seattle suburb, according to a 2025 U.S. News analysis. The median household income in Sammamish is $238,750.
The gap between mean and median isn’t an academic detail. It reflects how statistics can make different kinds of wealth look more or less dominant, and how that can alter where the public believes prosperity is most concentrated.
Some suburbs also miss out simply because they don’t meet the housing-count threshold. The Chicago suburb of Kenilworth and the Washington, DC, suburb of Chevy Chase, for example, have fewer than 5,000 households each.
Taken together, the ranking and its exclusions underscore a simple reality: the list isn’t just a snapshot of where wealth exists—it’s also a map shaped by data boundaries, housing supply, and the ability of high earners to cluster in a limited number of communities.
A quick look at wealthiest suburbs from other big cities shows how that clustering behaves at the metropolitan edge. In Chicago. the most affluent suburb is Hinsdale. Illinois. ranked 11th in the nation. with an average household income of $367. 874 and home values averaging $1.3 million. In Boston. Wellesley. Massachusetts is ranked 12th. tied to Wellesley and Babson colleges. with household incomes averaging $367. 512 and home values averaging $2.1 million. In Miami-Fort Lauderdale.
Palm Beach—part-time home to President Donald Trump—ranks 13th nationally. with household incomes averaging $357. 254 and average home value of $10.3 million. In Los Angeles. L.A.’s wealthiest suburb is La Cañada Flintridge. ranked 20th. with household incomes averaging $329. 425 and home values averaging $2.5 million. In Seattle, Mercer Island ranks 23rd nationally, with household incomes averaging $318,528 and home values averaging $2.5 million. In Birmingham, Alabama, Mountain Brook ranks 24th among wealthiest U.S. suburbs,
with an average household income of $318,286 and an average home value of $1.1 million.
For all the variation. MoneyLion’s central message is consistent: America’s most affluent suburbs tend to sit a good distance from the urban center but close enough for a commute. and many are either on the water or near it. Some are college towns. And for residents living there. the same financial math tends to shape daily life—what homes cost. which schools dominate. and how risk follows money.
wealthiest suburbs Scarsdale MoneyLion household income West University Place Rye Los Altos Paradise Valley University Park Alamo Southlake McLean Orinda