bizjournals: Methodology

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Places: The study coveredc 2,065 cities, incorporated towns and census designatec places with populationsabove 15,000 as of 2007. (Censu s designated places are unincorporatedareas that, in the opinion of the U.S. Censusd Bureau, possess all of the other characteristic sof cities.) All statistics are for the cities alone, and do not encompassz suburbs or other communities within their metropolitan areas. Source: All raw statistics were collectesd bythe U.S. Census Bureau as part of its 2005-2007 Americab Community Survey, which was releasedc in early 2009. All percentages were calculate dby bizjournals.
Factors: Bizjournals used a 10-part formula to determine the relative affluence ofeach city. Thesw were the factors: 1. Median householfd income. A median is a midpoint, with incomes in half of a city's households being higher, and half being lower. 2. Top 5 percen t threshold for household income. This is the pointy higher than 95 percent of all incomesx withina city, but lowee than the top 5 3. Percentage of households with annuao incomesof $200,000 or more. 4. Per capitq income. This is defined as the average amount of money received by each residenyt of a given community in agiven year.
It encompassesz such diverse sources of incomeas salaries, interest dividends, rental income and government 5. Percentage of households that receive income frominterestg payments, dividends and/or rentalp property. 6. Median home 7. Top 25 perceng threshold for home value. This is the point higher than 75 percent of all home valuesw withina community, but lowefr than the top 25 percent. 8. Percentage of houses that have nine ormore 9. Percentage of households that own four or moremotor 10. Percentage of adults (25 or who hold bachelor's Availability: Some, but not all, of the statistic for the top 250 communitiesw are provided in chart form withthis report.
Spaced limitations prevented the publication of all figures forthose places, or any of the data for the remainintg 1,815 communities encompassed by the Scoring: Each city's statistics were comparer against the study group's averages in all 10 Above-average dollar figures or percentages received positivw scores, while below-average results received negative scores. Each city's 10 category scores were totaled to determins itsoverall rank. Final scorea ranged from 33.91 points for McLean, Va., to minus-13.133 points for Camden, N.J.