26 Western Cities Where the Upper Class Is Getting Richer

Members of the upper class are staking out the Western region of the United States to build wealth. Key findings from a recent GOBankingRates study reveal that of the 50 cities ranked where the upper class is getting richer, more than half of these cities are based out West.

GOBankingRates utilized an existing study ranking the 50 cities where the upper class are increasing their wealth and pulled each city from the Western region out for this piece. A full methodology is available at the end of this article.

See which 26 Western cities have the greatest percentage of the upper class increasing their riches.

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 23.2%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 34.2%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $52,301
• Household median income (2023): $205,046
• Household median income (2020): $152,745

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 24.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 29.7%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $47,563
• Household median income (2023): $207,609
• Household median income (2020): $160,046

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 21.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 34.5%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $51,853
• Household median income (2023): $202,359
• Household median income (2020): $150,506

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 21.6%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 33%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $51,621
• Household median income (2023): $207,891
• Household median income (2020): $156,270

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 26.6%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 22%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $30,488
• Household median income (2023): $168,832
• Household median income (2020): $138,344

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 23.3%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 28.9%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $41,159
• Household median income (2023): $183,466
• Household median income (2020): $142,307

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 20.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 31.5%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $39,164
• Household median income (2023): $163,644
• Household median income (2020): $124,480

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 19.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 33%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $55,379
• Household median income (2023): $223,206
• Household median income (2020): $167,827

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 24.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 22.1%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $29,329
• Household median income (2023): $162,099
• Household median income (2020): $132,770

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 20.8%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 29.2%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $37,290
• Household median income (2023): $164,909
• Household median income (2020): $127,619

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 20.5%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 26.4%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $48,282
• Household median income (2023): $231,139
• Household median income (2020): $182,857

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 20.2%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 26.9%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $36,800
• Household median income (2023): $173,670
• Household median income (2020): $136,870

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 20.8%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 23.3%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $39,021
• Household median income (2023): $206,588
• Household median income (2020): $167,567

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 19.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 24.8%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $35,801
• Household median income (2023): $179,917
• Household median income (2020): $144,116

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 18.3%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 26%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $39,978 
• Household median income (2023): $193,904
• Household median income (2020): $153,926

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 18%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 25.2%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $45,809
• Household median income (2023): $227,273
• Household median income (2020): $181,464

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 17.3%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 26.7%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $46,405
• Household median income (2023): $220,408
• Household median income (2020): $174,003

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 19%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 23%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $43,594
• Household median income (2023): $233,333
• Household median income (2020): $189,739

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 15.5%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 29.1%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $39,822
• Household median income (2023): $176,822
• Household median income (2020): $137,000

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 17.6%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 23.9%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $33,976
• Household median income (2023): $176,350
• Household median income (2020): $142,374

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 18.1%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 21.3%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $28,898
• Household median income (2023): $164,315
• Household median income (2020): $135,417

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 16.1%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 25%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $36,619
• Household median income (2023): $186,250
• Household median income (2020): $149,631

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 18.4%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 18.6%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $30,311
• Household median income (2023): $193,633
• Household median income (2020): $163,322

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 17.5%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 17.9%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $30,013
• Household median income (2023): $197,358
• Household median income (2020): $167,345

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 18.3%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 15.9%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $25,517
• Household median income (2023): $186,206
• Household median income (2020): $160,689

• % change in households with incomes of $200K+ (2020 to 2023): 17.1%
• % change in household median income (2020 to 2023): 18.2%
• $ change in household median income (2020 to 2023): $34,253
• Household median income (2023): $222,393
• Household median income (2020): $188,140

Methodology: For this piece, GOBankingRates first took the 71 cities with the highest mean household income and with a minimum of 8,000 total households and at least $162,000 in household median income as sourced from the 2023 American Community Survey as conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. With these cities selected, GOBankingRates then found each cities: (1) 2020 median household income; (2) 2023 median household income; (3) three-year percent change in median household income; (4) 2020 percent of population with a household income of $200,000+; (5) 2023 percent of population with a household income of $200,000+; (6) three-year percent change in population with a household income of $200,000+. Factors (3) and (6) were then scored and combined. All data was collected and is up to date as of Mar. 7, 2025.