Is McHenry County Among Richest Counties in U.S.?

Residents living in McHenry County have among the highest incomes in the state and country, according to recent statistics released by the United Census Bureau.

But residents living here did not top the census bureau’s list of the top 30 highest-income counties in the United States in 2012, which went to several counties on the east coast including five counties in northern Virginia. 

Falls Church, Virginia, ranked highest on that list where residents have a median household income of $121,250 while Rockwell County, Texas, rounded off the list with a median income of $85,164.

The data is from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program, which provides the only current, single-year income and poverty statistics for all sizes of counties and school districts — roughly 3,140 counties and nearly 14,000 school districts nationally.

"Metropolitan counties along the East Coast continued to have the highest median household income and lowest poverty in the country," said Lucinda Dalzell, chief of the Census Bureau's Small Areas Estimates Branch.

Meanwhile, a handful of Chicago area counties, including McHenry County, were ranked among the top income counties in the United States, with a range of  median household income from around $75,000 to $121,250. In McHenry County, residents had a median household income of $76,417. 

From 2007 to 2011, the median household income for Algonquin residents was $98,092 and $82,818 for Lake in the Hills residents, which is well above the state median of $55,126. 

Here is how the median household income ranked for other suburban counties: 

• Kendall County: $84,816
• Lake County: $74,459
• Will County: $72,395
• Cook County: $52,160
• Kane County: $64,870

Meanwhile, the poverty rate in McHenry County was among the lowest in the state at 7.6 percent. 

Here is how the poverty rate ranked for other suburban counties: 

• Kendall County: 5.1 percent 
• Lake County: 9.4 percent
• Cook County: 18.1 percent 
• DuPage County: 7.3 percent
• Will County: 8.1 percent 
• Kane County: 11.9 percent.