Using a more holistic view of household income that accounts for more than pre-tax earnings, a new study ranks the wealthiest counties in America.
Teton County, Wyo. was ranked first in the nation on an income-per-tax-return basis, with an average income 10 times that of Hayes County, Neb., the county with the lowest average income in SmartAsset's study. the average tax return for the county has $214,800 in income, and the majority of the $3.05 billion earned annually comes from investments, dissimilar to the other wealthy counties studied. Tax returns filed in the county report $2.1 billion in investment income from capital gains, dividends, or interest. Teton County includes Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole Ski Area, and 40 percent of Yellowstone National Park.
You may think you have a good sense of where in the country residents are making the most money. But the counties whose well-heeled, deep-pocketed denizens are pulling in the most coin may not include the fanciest zip codes you’re imagining. That’s because there’s more to income than just wages. In fact, a Federal Reserve survey found that wage income makes up only 61 percent of pretax income for the average family.
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