Tremendous Leap: The Woodlands, Texas, Leads Income Growth
Despite inflation concerns affecting much of the United States, one city in the Houston area is outpacing the rest of the country in median income increases over the past year. A new income analysis by SmartAsset found that The Woodlands residents had the largest income increase in the United States from 2021 to 2022.
The median income for workers in The Woodlands in 2022 was $137,335, representing a staggering 31.06 percent increase over the previous year's median income of $104,787. The income growth rate in The Woodlands is more than three times the average median income growth rate in all major U.S. cities, according to the study. The average national income growth rate from 2021 to 2022 was only 8.1 percent.
Texas homebuyers have been eyeing the family-friendliness and local attractions of the Houston suburbs, which may explain the big increase in interest (and income) in the area. Not to mention the growing list of local restaurants and venues.
The report says: "When incomes rise, they can mitigate the burden of inflation and even outpace it. Despite this gap between income growth and inflation, workers in some U.S. cities were able to keep up with and even outpace cost increases for consumers.
The Woodlands was the only Texas city to rank in the top ten, beating several popular cities in Arizona, California and Florida.
On the other hand, the median income of Sugar Land residents, also in the Houston metropolitan area, exceeded the national average, with an increase of 17.63 percent in 2022, reaching $132,766. Sugar Land ranked 34th in the overall report, which ranked 349 U.S. cities. In central Houston, however, the median income only rose slightly above the national average last year. City revenue increased 8.88 percent to $60,426. Houston ranked 150th in the overall report.
The cities in the United States in which income increased the most are:
The SmartAsset study analyzed median household income data for 349 of the largest cities in the United States using data from the US Census Bureau's 1-year American Community Survey. The rankings were based on percentage of one-year revenue growth from 2021 to 2022. You can find the full report and its methodology at smartasset.com.
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