There is really something wrong when the richest counties are next to our center of government and not our centers of business.
Same thing was true in the Roman Empire. The wealthiest lived near Rome, the rest lived in the provinces, and were considered ‘provincial’. Same thing now.
That says it all right there.
Actually, it kind of makes sense. They're measuring "wealth" based on personal income. These counties are either very rural (like Louden County VA that enjoy some wealthy horse farm owners), or they are heavily populated with white collar jobs. There really isn't much in the way of industry in either southern Maryland or Northern Virginia, so there aren't many laborers beyond the labor that cleans hotels, offices or that work in kitchens. Yes, personal income is high per capita, but tt wouldn't surprise me to see many of these counties rank as the most educated (per capita), as well.
Also, I would be interested to see the list of richest zip codes. I'd wager that none of these NoVA or southern Maryland counties actually have the richest zip codes. There aren't a lot of mega-wealthy people in these counties - not like you'd find in the Palm Beach, Beverly Hills or Greenwich, CT area. But, there are a lot of well-educated professionals working in professional fields.
Yep. Free enterprise and true capitalism are long gone in America.