These metro areas still boast the highest median family incomes.
If your family's income is higher than it was a year or two ago, consider yourself lucky.
Median family incomes across the country decreased dramatically from 2008 to 2009, and no region was left untouched by the recession. But despite shrinking paychecks nearly across the board, some cities still stand out for their bigger than average salaries.
To find the places where Americans earn the most, we looked at median family income data for 2009, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. In September, as part of its annual American Community Survey, the Census released updated data for several hundred Metropolitan Statistical Areas--geographic entities defined by the U.S. government that roughly correspond to major cities.
The place with the highest median family income is the Washington, D.C., metro area, which includes the nation's capital, as well as wealthy suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. In 2009 families in this region earned a median income of $102,340, a 0.7% increase from 2008. D.C. also boasts a better than average unemployment rate of 5.9%, far below the September's 9.2% national average.
D.C. has seen its share of layoffs, including government jobs, and the private companies that serve government interests. But when it comes down to it, the federal government still offers more job security than most companies. "The federal government can run deficits, which means they didn't have to do as many layoffs as state and local governments," says Heidi Shierholz, a labor market economist at the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute.
In places like San Jose, Calif., (No.3) and San Francisco (No. 5), the effects of the recession are more obvious. San Jose, part of the country's biggest tech hub, saw median family income drop 6.5% to $96,443. San Francisco, a financial center which also relies heavily on the tech industry, experienced a decrease of 3.7% to $90,734.
Wealthy suburbs on the East Coast also saw negative growth, even though incomes are still high. In second-ranked Greenwich, Conn., (No. 2) and the surrounding areas that make up the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., Metropolitan Statistical Area, median family income plummeted by 6.7% to $98,118.
"Places with the biggest housing bubbles, where lots of people are employed in the financial and manufacturing sectors--these are the places where incomes went down," says Shierholz.
So will next year's numbers look better for the rest of the country? If you consider unemployment rates, the prospects aren't good: Overall U.S. unemployment rates have climbed from 5.8% in 2008 to 9.3% in 2009 and an estimated 9.7% in 2010. But Shierholz says there will be more places showing recovery, even if the country at large still struggles. "On average the median income will come down a bit," she says. "But there will be metro areas that see improvement."
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尽管几乎人人的工资单都在缩水，有些城镇还是明显高于全国平均水平，引人注目。
如果读者您的家庭年收入比一两年前还增加了，恭喜了，您真是走运。
全美国的家庭年收入中值（注，不同于均值average，中值median一般在统计学上比较符合统计对象的真实情况，本文及图片引用的收入数字都是中值）自2008年至2009年都显著下跌了，这场经济衰退波及之处，没有一地得以幸免。不过尽管几乎人人的工资单都在缩水，有些城镇还是明显高于全国平均水平，引人注目。
本榜根据美国人口普查局的报告，自2009年全美家庭收入中值数据里取样，希望找到全国前20个收入最高的地方。今年9月，作为年度美国社区普查的部分内容，美国人口普查局发布了涉及好几百个都市统计区（Metropolitan Statistical Areas，注，指的是相对人口稠密、经济联系紧密的区域，不拘行政区划的限定，通常由核心城镇辐射形成）的更新数据——这些地理上的实体区域由美国政府划定，大致与美国主要大城市分布相符。
荣登家庭年收入中值最高位置的是华盛顿特区，这个都市区包括华盛顿以及弗吉尼亚州和马里兰州富饶的郊县。2009年这一地区家庭收入中值是$102,340，比2008年略增加0.7%。首都特区还享有低于国内平均水平的失业率，为5.9%，远低于今年9月统计的美国平均失业率水平9.2%。
华盛顿特区也遭遇了解雇潮，包括政府部门，以及为政府机构提供服务的私营企业都裁了员。不过归根到底，联邦政府的铁饭碗还是比大多数公司企业牢靠。“联邦政府部门能在赤字下运营，不用像州政府和地方政府那样被迫大量裁员。”位于华盛顿特区的经济政策学会的一位劳动力市场经济学家海蒂?谢尔霍兹（Heidi Shierholz）这样分析道。
在排名第三的圣何塞和排名第五的旧金山这些地方，经济衰退造成的影响更突出些。作为全国高科技产业中心之一的圣何塞，家庭收入中值大跌了6.5%，到$96,443。作为区域金融中心的旧金山市也严重依赖技术产业，其地区家庭收入中值下跌3.7%，到$90,734。
尽管当地收入水平仍旧较高，但东海岸富裕城郊社区的收入也经历了负增长。排名第二的康州格林威治及其周边区域，构成了布里奇波特－斯坦福德－诺沃克人口经济圈，这个都市统计区内的家庭收入中值大幅减少了6.7%到$98,118。
“住房市场泡沫最汹涌的地方，很多人都在金融和制造业部门就业，这些地方的收入都下降了。” 谢尔霍兹分析道。
那么对美国其他未上榜的地区来说，明年的收入数字是否会有所起色呢？考虑到目前的失业率状况，前景可不妙：美国全国的失业率从2008年的5.8%攀升到2009年的9.3%，估计2010年会录得9.7%。不过谢尔霍兹认为即便全国大部分就业市场普遍还处于泥潭当中，仍会有较多的地方显露出复苏迹象。“平均下来，全国的家庭收入中值会略微下降，”她分析道：“不过有些都市区的收入水平会有所增长。”
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