Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Rich and Poor
Posted By Babs De Lay on May 25, 2022, 4:00 AM
Where do rich people live? According to HGTV, high-income earners live in these areas: Atherton, Hillsborough and Los Altos—all in California; Scarsdale, New York; Cherry Hills Village, Colorado; Short Hills, New Jersey; Highland Park, Texas; and Glencoe, Illinois.
The three California towns are near Silicon Valley, where tech moguls and ultra-rich celebs live. All the towns on the HGTV list have households that bring in at least $300K per year. Fortune noted that while California has many millionaires, don't forget Boston, Massachusetts, as well as neighborhoods in Seattle, Washington, and New York City, New York.
In Utah, the richest zip codes are 84060 (Summit County) and 84004 (Alpine), with pricey neighborhoods on the East side of Salt Lake County—such as the greater Avenues, Yalecrest and Holladay.
But where does the middle class—the main economic group in the U.S.—live? According to the National Association of Realtors and SmartAssets, Utah and Idaho top the list for the highest concentration of middle-class households, at 47% 42%, respectively.
The list was based on seven metrics, including the percentage of overall households in the middle class, median household income adjusted for cost of living, median home values, homeownership rates, the four-year change in median household income, the Gini index (which calculates wealth disparities) and job growth.
The middle-class moniker originally referred to in the social hierarchy of capitalism was the bourgeoisie, which was separate from the nobility or the poor or serf class. The Economist magazine at one time asserted that over half of the world's population belonged to the middle class. The group is in the middle between capitalist owners of production and industry and the working class, whose income is generated from hourly wages.
I think it's safe to say that most Americans believe they are part of the middle class, even though real earnings have been flat for years while housing, health care and housing costs have continued to rise along with inflation.
To make the top of the "Best States for the Middle Class" list, the adjusted household income (AHI) for a middle-class Utahn is $81,468, with 71.32% owning their own homes that have a median home value of $360,800. Our neighbor to the north, Idaho, has an AHI of $68,301, with a median home value of $290,400 and 72.75% ownership.
As a Realtor, I can look at those median home values and instantly determine from experience and sales data that values would likely double if homeowners decided to sell their property.
Do we actually have billionaires here in the Beehive State? According to Slacker, Utah's top five richest people are: 1. Matthew Prince, Park City, estimated to be worth $4.5 billion, largely from Cloudflare cybersecurity; 2. Gail Miller, Salt Lake City, $3.2 billion from car dealerships; 3. Scott Watterson, Logan, $1.6 billion from iFIT fitness equipment; 4-5.Ryan and Jared Smith, Provo, brothers worth $1.6 billion and $1.4 billion, respectively, who founded Qualtrics cloud computing.
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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