{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://frankhecker.com/2008/09/09/the-wealthy-few-in-howard-county/",
  "path": "/2008/09/09/the-wealthy-few-in-howard-county/",
  "publishedAt": "2008-09-09T13:15:19.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:77mn3ult3b72tpvtqqva6tat/site.standard.publication/3mpfmfpu4u72n",
  "tags": [
    "howardcounty"
  ],
  "textContent": "Last night a [post by local blogger Wordbones][post by] caught my eye.  Based on a [story in the _Baltimore Sun_][story i], it discussed proposed plans for affordable housing in Columbia Town Center, housing that would be reserved for those with income of less than \\$80,000 (10% of total units) or those with income between \\$80,000 and \\$120,000 (another 10% of total units).  Wordbones particularly noted a quote in the article from Alan Klein of the [Coalition for Columbia’s Downtown][Coaliti]:\n\n> Klein noted that 80 percent of the 5,500 residential units planned would be for people making more than \\$120,000, which he defined as “the wealthy few.” “It seems like a pretty elite group,” said Klein, referring to the 20 percent \\[of units reserved for those making less than \\$120,000\\] as “a drop in the bucket.”\n\nWordbones questioned this characterization, and I myself was curious as to whether it was really true.  When in doubt the best rule is to go to the data, which in this case are from the annual [American Community Survey][America] produced by the US Census Bureau.  In some comments on Wordbones’s blog I referenced the 2006 ACS data, but as it turns out the [2007 ACS estimates][2007 AC] were just released, as highlighted in a [recent _Columbia Flier_ story][recent] about Howard County being the third-wealthiest county in the country.\n\nSo what do the data say?  According to the [detailed breakdown of household income for Howard County in 2007][detaile], about 37% of Howard County households have incomes of \\$125,000 or more; if we add in the households between \\$120,000 and \\$125,000, and also allow for the effects of wage inflation over the past year, almost 40% of Howard County households (or nearly two out of five) are part of Alan Klein’s “pretty elite group.”\n\nBut wait, there’s more!  The ACS distinguishes “households” from “families”; among other things, the ACS definition of “family” excludes people living alone.  If we look at the [detailed data for Howard County family income for 2007][detaile02] we find that 46% of Howard County families have family incomes of \\$125,000 or more.  Also, the [median Howard County family income for 2007][median] was \\$115,907, meaning 50% of Howard County families had income higher than that.  So if we again add in the effects of wage inflation it’s likely that Alan Klein’s “weathy few” (for whom 80% of the proposed units are reserved intended) includes half the families in Howard County.\n\nTo give Klein his due, \\$120,000 _is_ an unusually high income for the US as a whole; [detailed household income data for the entire US][detaile03] show that only 12% of US households had income of \\$125,000 or more in 2007, and the [corresponding data for family income][corresp] show that less than 16% of US families had family income above that level.  This underscores the unusual position of Howard County as a very wealthy jurisdiction.  Wordbones doubted whether “any typical family in Columbia with a household income of \\$120,000 sees themselves as being wealthy,” and in the context of Howard County at least he’s absolutely right.\n\n\n\n\n[post by]: http://writing-the-wrongs.blogspot.com/2008/09/you-just-cant-make-some-folks-happy.html\n[story i]: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-ho.affordable07sep07,0,510826.story\n[Coaliti]: http://www.coalitionforcolumbiasdowntown.org/\n[America]: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/index.html\n[2007 AC]: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Products/users_guide/2007/index.htm\n[recent]: http://www.explorehoward.com/news/11042/howard-remains-states-richest-county/\n[detaile]: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B19001&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=307&-geo_id=05000US24027&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en\n[detaile02]: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B19101&-tree_id=307&-redoLog=false&-geo_id=05000US24027&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en\n[median]: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B19113&-CONTEXT=dt&-tree_id=307&-geo_id=05000US24027&-search_results=01000US&-format=&-_lang=en\n[detaile03]: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B19001&-tree_id=307&-redoLog=false&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-search_results=05000US24027&-format=&-_lang=en\n[corresp]: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-context=dt&-ds_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=dt&-mt_name=ACS_2007_1YR_G2000_B19101&-tree_id=307&-redoLog=false&-geo_id=01000US&-geo_id=NBSP&-search_results=05000US24027&-format=&-_lang=en\n[officia]: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads/2007/usedata/Subject_Definitions.pdf\n\n  *\n\nBilligflüge - 2008-10-30 09:16{#ad4b010e-002}\n\nGreat, well sophisticated article. Your conclusions seem plausible. I've learned two things: 1. It makes sense to study local stats. 2. Howard County must be a wonderful place to live.",
  "title": "The “wealthy few” in Howard County"
}