Dallas Metro Is One of the Fastest Growing Areas for the Super Rich — Tell Me Where They All Live? (Hint: Not Dallas)
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Update: I’ve received a lot of email on this post, which delights me. Definitely see the comments. But I need to clarify and correct a couple things:
1. There was a typo (hello, my name is typo, what’s your’s?) in the 75225 zip code: median income there is $130,332.
2. 75225 is not Highland Park — 75225 is Dallas. There is only a portion of Northern University Park that is 75225, but none of Highland Park fits into this area. It is Preston Hollow, Windsor Park, Glen Lakes, and Caruth Homeplace.
3. Readers think there may be a couple hundred folks in Preston Hollow with median incomes of $10 million a year or more. I think I know a few!
Do you think people are building bigger and bigger houses in Dallas? You may be right: Dallas has placed fourth nationally in a ranking for double-digit millionaire growth in the last decade.
Let’s put it this way, as Paul O’Donnell at the Dallas Business Journal did::
The number of people earning more than $10 million a year has jumped 58 percent in Dallas – from 1,750 in 2004 to 2,770 in 2014. Only in-state rival Houston, and West Coast cities Seattle and San Jose saw bigger gains.
We even beat San Francisco. This from a March 2015 publication called New World Wealth. That is why we are seeing bigger and bigger spec homes, and part of the reason why our real estate market (etc.) is so hot. Fancy stores are coming here, not to Chicago or Detroit.
It’s nice to hang around rich people. They can afford to buy things, if you are selling them, and they are generally well-educated and well-traveled.
Of course, there are a few exceptions to this generality.
Where are they living? According to DBJ research, in five high net worth communities: Southlake, where the median household income is $145,392 (population 28,148); Colleyville, median income at $132,352 and a bit smaller than Southlake with 24,404 residents; Flower Mound, median income of $130,399 with a population of 23,527; Dallas Highland Park (75225) with a median income of $130,332 and a population of 24,149 and Argyle, population 17,388 and a median income of $113,364.
So you have 5 communities with roughly 20,000 residents each, the wealthiest in Dallas metro. That 4 out of 5 communities are not within Dallas County or the city itself — Highland Park is a separate township — concerns those who believe Dallas is stagnating when it comes to growth.
Also, these are 2013 figures. Populations in these areas could be even higher today, with the exception of land-locked Highland Park.
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Interesting statistics. While I don’t doubt that those suburbs are the highest average income, I would imagine most of the $10,000,000 a year earners are in the Park Cities and Dallas/Preston Hollow.
Preston Hollow has a population of 166,001. There are 84,640 male residents living in Preston Hollow and 81,359 female residents. The total number of households is 64,201 with 2.41 people per household on average. I would estimate there are 50 at most with incomes of $10 million/annually. But you are right, that is a LOT of buying and tax-paying power.
Flawed logic, Candy. Pulling cities’ median incomes doesn’t tell you where the mega wealthy live.
And I think there are way more people in PH than 50 who earn over $10M per year. A quick browse through a few mega rich streets on DCAD (Strait, Park, Deloache) showed 25 homes on the tax rolls for $9M or higher. I know some people are more leveraged than others, but I’d think anyone living in a $7M+ range home has the potential to be pulling in $10M+ per year.
Well that was one way the DBJ chose to look at it. Couple things. Just because those homes are valued at 9M or more doesn’t mean they paid that much, but the house value would add to net wealth. This study looked at median incomes. Plus the rich get paid in so many ways — stock options –all to defer taxable income. I think there are probably more “upper middle class” wage earners in these communities. Dallas, really, UP and PH, is becoming the haven of the ultra wealthy surrounded by Dallas which doesn’t have the benefit of this upper echelon. They are moving out because of schools and crime to the perceived safety of these communities. But I do agree — the honeypot of major money in this area is in PC and PH…
There aren’t. 2,200 people in the entire state of Texas who make 10m a Year. New Wealth article meant Net income on an annual basis. Either you misinterpreted the Dallas Business Journal or the writer misinterpreted the New Wealth study. At most there may be 200 or 300 who make 10m in a year