The Number of High-Income Households Is Falling the Most in These 7 Cities — Here’s Why
Written by
Lydia Kibet
Edited by
Zuri Anderson
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High-income households always have the financial freedom to live anywhere they want, but that hasn’t stopped many from packing up and moving to other American cities.
Over the last two years, households earning $200,000 or more annually have been seeking better opportunities elsewhere. Here are seven cities losing the most high-income households and why, according to a recent Smart Asset study.
Also find out the minimum salary required to be considered upper middle class this year.
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury, Connecticut, is the most impacted city, seeing a staggering 63.2% decrease in its proportion of high-income households. The city housed 1,670 households earning $200,000 or more yearly, but in 2023, this number declined to 643. This sharp decline occurred despite a 4.4% increase in the total number of households, suggesting the city’s economic challenges. The median household income also fell to $43,420 from $51,572.
Conroe, Texas
While Conroe, Texas has been home for thousands of high-income earners, 2,212 moved to other cities in 2023, representing a 43.3% decline. Surprisingly, the median household income rose significantly from $65,728 to $77,027, which could mean middle-income earners could be thriving.
Laredo, Texas
Laredo, another city in Texas, saw a nearly 41% decrease in its high-income household proportion. The study found that 1,986 households moved out of the city, and the percentage of households earning more than $200,000 plummeted to 3.6% from 6.1%. Despite many households moving out of Laredo, the median household income rose slightly to $60,720.
Independence, Missouri
Independence not only lost 812 households, reprepresenting a 38.9% decrease in the proportion of high-income families, but also experienced a 4.8% overall decrease in total households. However, the median household income jumped to $61,432, suggesting slight economic gains for those who stayed despite wealthier families moving to other cities.
Garden Grove, California
Garden Grove had 7,630 high-income households in 2022, but this number declined to 5,286 by the end of 2023. While the city lost over 2,344 high-income earners, it added new households with a modest 2.3% increase. The median household income remained stable at $87,000, signaling that the middle class might be weathering the economic changes better than the wealthy.
Palmdale, California
Palmdale also saw a 31.6% decrease in the proportion of high-income households, with 1,792 disappearing in one year. The city’s total number of households increased by 4%, but the median household income dropped to $78,743 from $90,330.
Gresham, Oregon
Gresham is another city that lost 1,329 affluent households, representing a 29.6% decrease. Despite these high-income households moving to other cities, the median household income increased to $76,205.
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