Commercial Real Estate News / Insight / The Top 50 US Cities With the Most Meaningful Income Gains

The Top 50 US Cities With the Most Meaningful Income Gains

Published: 09-21-23 Category: Insight

MyEListings' markets and economics editor and creates content about global macro events and their impact on US commercial real estate.

It's no secret that cities in the United States have experienced significant economic shifts over the past several years.

This analysis aims to shed light on the cities that have witnessed the most remarkable income gains in percentage terms, when measured against the overall US economy's percentage growth rate per household.

To ascertain which cities lead in terms of income growth, we scrutinized the data from 2017 to 2022 and compared the top 50 US cities' percentage growth rates in income with the average GDP growth rate per household for the same duration.

Rank	City	2022 Median Household Income	2017 Median Household Income	5-Year Change (%)	5-Year Change ($)	Exceeds Avg GDP Growth By
1	Miami, FL	$60,989	$33,999	79.40%	$26,990	$14,380
2	Daytona Beach, FL	$51,881	$30,137	72.20%	$21,744	$9,134
3	Hialeah, FL	$52,674	$31,012	69.90%	$21,662	$9,052
4	Lodi, CA	$88,440	$52,244	69.30%	$36,196	$23,586
5	Madera, CA	$67,454	$40,731	65.60%	$26,723	$14,113
6	Nampa, ID	$71,060	$43,058	65.00%	$28,002	$15,392
7	Atlanta, GA	$83,251	$51,701	61.00%	$31,550	$18,940
8	Lancaster, CA	$79,113	$49,314	60.40%	$29,799	$17,189
9	Malden, MA	$99,497	$62,361	59.60%	$37,136	$24,526
10	Palmdale, CA	$90,330	$56,699	59.30%	$33,631	$21,021
11	Indio, CA	$79,372	$49,951	58.90%	$29,421	$16,811
12	Deltona, FL	$73,115	$46,121	58.50%	$26,994	$14,384
13	Palm Bay, FL	$71,645	$45,811	56.40%	$25,834	$13,224
14	Fort Lauderdale, FL	$81,544	$52,315	55.90%	$29,229	$16,619
15	Union City, CA	$148,460	$95,625	55.30%	$52,835	$40,225
16	Buckeye, AZ	$95,235	$61,469	54.90%	$33,766	$21,156
17	Palm Harbor, FL	$85,256	$55,145	54.60%	$30,111	$17,501
18	Hawthorne, CA	$73,515	$47,636	54.30%	$25,879	$13,269
19	Leander, TX	$138,111	$89,649	54.10%	$48,462	$35,852
20	San Mateo, CA	$159,275	$103,399	54.00%	$55,876	$43,266
21	Surprise, AZ	$96,912	$62,927	54.00%	$33,985	$21,375
22	Chattanooga, TN	$64,340	$41,911	53.50%	$22,429	$9,819
23	Milpitas, CA	$169,818	$110,752	53.30%	$59,066	$46,456
24	Fort Myers, FL	$62,981	$41,591	51.40%	$21,390	$8,780
25	Vista, CA	$88,839	$59,833	48.50%	$29,006	$16,396
26	Commerce City, CA	$102,607	$69,268	48.10%	$33,339	$20,729
27	Roswell, GA	$130,088	$87,911	48.00%	$42,177	$29,567
28	Oakland, CA	$93,146	$63,251	47.30%	$29,895	$17,285
29	Alameda, CA	$131,116	$89,045	47.20%	$42,071	$29,461
30	Somerville, MA	$124,110	$84,722	46.50%	$39,388	$26,778
31	Bend, OR	$88,516	$60,563	46.20%	$27,953	$15,343
32	Everett, WA	$79,723	$54,562	46.10%	$25,161	$12,551
33	Santa Clara, CA	$158,614	$108,609	46.00%	$50,005	$37,395
34	Bellevue, WA	$153,779	$105,402	45.90%	$48,377	$35,767
35	Seattle, WA	$115,409	$79,565	45.00%	$35,844	$23,234
36	West Palm Beach, FL	$71,138	$49,054	45.00%	$22,084	$9,474
37	Castro Valley, CA	$133,285	$92,233	44.50%	$41,052	$28,442
38	Sunnyvale, CA	$169,781	$118,314	43.50%	$51,467	$38,857
39	Sammamish, WA	$223,849	$157,271	42.30%	$66,578	$53,968
40	San Tan Valley, AZ	$89,081	$62,646	42.20%	$26,435	$13,825
41	San Francisco, CA	$136,692	$96,265	42.00%	$40,427	$27,817
42	Four Corners, FL	$76,295	$53,750	41.90%	$22,545	$9,935
43	Castle Rock, CA	$142,927	$101,122	41.30%	$41,805	$29,195
44	San Leandro, CA	$92,651	$66,178	40.00%	$26,473	$13,863
45	Redwood City, CA	$137,512	$99,026	38.90%	$38,486	$25,876
46	Mountain View, CA	$165,448	$120,351	37.50%	$45,097	$32,487
47	Brentwood, CA	$132,610	$96,945	36.80%	$35,665	$23,055
48	Dublin, CA	$186,892	$138,007	35.40%	$48,885	$36,275
49	Fremont, CA	$162,336	$122,191	32.90%	$40,145	$27,535
50	Redmond, WA	$152,851	$115,300	32.60%	$37,551	$24,941

Analysis

Upon examining the data, some patterns are immediately discernible:

Floridian Flourish: Florida, without doubt, emerges as a significant winner, with cities like Miami, Daytona Beach, Hialeah, Deltona, Palm Bay, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach occupying prominent ranks. This could be attributed to the state's increasing popularity as a prime destination for relocation, its advantageous tax climate, and an expanding tourism sector, among other factors.
Californian Climb: California, as expected, boasts a high number (24) of cities in the top 50. Little-mentioned, though substantial cities, such as Lodi, Madera, and Lancaster, have seen outsized gains. While California has always been an economic powerhouse, the rise in tech industries, real estate, and other sectors likely contributed to this outsized growth.
Diverse Growth Beyond Coastal States: Beyond Florida and California, the list includes cities from Idaho, Georgia, Massachusetts, Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, Washington, and more. This shows that income growth isn't just a coastal phenomenon, and many interior cities experienced impressive economic uplifts.
Income vs. GDP: A particularly notable metric is the 'Excess of Income over GDP per household.' This number sheds light on the amount by which a city's median household income growth rate exceeded the average GDP per household's growth rate. For instance, Miami's household income grew by a whopping 79.40%, while only exceeding nominal household GDP by $14,380. This likely reflects a combination of strong inbound net income migration and economic dynamism; higher earners chose Miami disproportionately, as existing residents performed economically.

The economic landscape of American cities is ever-evolving. While some cities are witnessing unprecedented growth, the dynamics behind this progress are multifaceted, stemming from factors like industry developments, population shifts, real estate trends, and more.

This data underscores the fact that while economic progress is widespread, certain cities are outpacing others, setting themselves apart on a 'pound-for-pound' basis as the economic frontrunners of the future.

Methodology

The approach was straightforward. We took the top 50 cities in terms of income growth rate from 2017 to 2022 as reported by the Census' American Community Survey and juxtaposed them against the average GDP increase per household for the same timeline, which was 8.02%.

We assumed 2.5 people average per household, per the US Census Bureau, and multiplied this by the average increase in per capita GDP for the period to get average increase in household GDP. The table's last column was calculated by subtracting the average increase in US household GDP for the period, which was $12,610, from that city's actual dollar increase in average income for the period.

Household GDP for the period was calculated by multiplying the difference in GDP per capita for the period by the average household size for the period of 2.5 persons. This comparison offered insights into how households in these ranked cities compared to the average US household's contribution to GDP during the contemplated period.

Essentially, this highlighted the cities with the most significant percentage gains in net household income over the average increase in household GDP, and then reported the dollar amount by which they exceeded GDP growth, on average.

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