Watch Dane County, Wisconsin hold on - due to the over concentration of government employment there - and also look at the Northern VA - Washington DC area - as it holds on while everything surrounding it goes to hell rapidly. If the general level of unemployment remains high - in the long run you may be seeing a significant concentration of (relative) wealth in federal and state employees. They have robust pensions, and at least for federal employees are paid better then those in comparable positions in the private sector. I have some friends who, while not entirely apolitical, were not activated until recently - and then by this issue of public sector retirement benefits. Not a high ranking hot button for me - but definitely salient for some voter segments. Hope the GOP is paying attention to this issue.
D.C. Suburbs Top List Of Richest Counties
Nationwide Data on Health Coverage Bleak
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By Amy Goldstein and Dan Keating
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
The three most prosperous large counties in the United States are in the Washington suburbs, according to census figures released yesterday, which show that the region has the second-highest income and the least poverty of any major metropolitan area in the country.
Rapidly growing Loudoun County has emerged as the wealthiest jurisdiction in the nation, with its households last year having a median income of more than $98,000. It is followed by Fairfax and Howard counties, with Montgomery County not far behind.
That accumulation of suburban wealth, local economists said, is a side effect of the enormous flow of federal money into the region through contracts for defense and homeland security work in the five years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, coming after the local technology boom of the 1990s. “When you put that together . . . you have a recipe for heightened prosperity,” said Anirban Basu, an economist at a Baltimore consulting firm.