Three of 10 wealthiest US suburbs are in the Bay Area: study

(KRON) — Everyone knows the cost of living is especially high in the Bay Area. Whether it’s living in a city or a suburb, the cost of living is much higher than the national average. In a report by finance website GOBankingRates released Wednesday, three of the nation’s “wealthiest” suburbs are in the Bay Area. The main factor used was mean household income.

Now, which three suburbs get the honor of being the three “wealthiest” in the Bay Area? There are plenty of candidates, but these three cracked the national top 10.

Los Altos (South Bay) was listed as the fourth on GOBankingRates’ list with a mean household income of $403,512. The East Bay’s Alamo and Orinda ranked fifth and ninth, respectively. Alamo is a new addition to the top 50 list, according to GOBankingRates. The Contra Costa County suburb did not make the top 50 in last year’s list.

Nearly another dozen Bay Area locations were also among the 50 “wealthiest” U.S. suburbs ranked (see below).

America’s 50 Wealthiest Suburbs in 2025

Rank	Location	Mean Household Income*
1	Scarsdale, New York	$601,193
2	Rye, New York	$421,259
3	West University Place, Texas	$409,677
4	Los Altos, California	$403,512
5	Alamo, California	$403,334
6	University Park, Texas	$389,868
7	Southlake, Texas	$382,520
8	Hinsdale, Illinois	$376,366
9	Orinda, California	$369,073
10	Wellesley, Massachusetts	$368,179

• No. 14 Saratoga
• No. 15: Menlo Park
• No. 16: San Carlos
• No. 17: Lafayette
• No. 18: Los Gatos
• No. 24: Palo Alto
• No. 25: Mill Valley
• No. 36: Cupertino
• No. 42: Danville
• No. 48: Moraga

Methodology

GOBankingRates analyzed cities with at least 5,000 households based on U.S. Census data from 2023. Then, the 50 suburbs with the highest average household income were gathered and ranked. All the cities analyzed are part of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA), as defined by the United States government.

“To qualify for this study, the city had to have at least 5,000 households and be a part of a metropolitan statistical area but not be a principal city, a city named in the MSA’s title,” GOBankingRates wrote.

The full report from GOBankingRates can be viewed here.

*as of 2023