In 2017, Adam Pagnucco published an article entitled, MoCo’s Mighty Seven Zip Codes. The article examined the income disparities across a county that, while having a reputation for being wealthy, is actually a county with just very concentrated wealth.
The article concluded, after utilizing data from 2011-2015, that:
“with the exception of its wealthiest zip codes, MoCo is a middle-income jurisdiction by the (admittedly high) standards of the Washington region”
and
“in terms of who pays the county government’s bills, there is no question that county revenues are hugely dependent on a limited number of wealthy neighborhoods, especially in the absence of robust economic growth.”
Well after 7-10 years of locally elected officials talking about the need to bolster incomes and stimulate economic growth, the question is: Has it been all talk?
And the short answer is, yes.
By pulling Census.gov ACS 5-Year Estimates Subject Tables related to the median income for the last 5 years, it is clear that the wealth has only become more concentrated.
- 10% of Montgomery County households have median household incomes greater than $186,888. This represents the top 21% of median income across the county.
- 15% of Montgomery County households have median household incomes greater than $165,046 . This represents the top 35% of median income across the county.
- 25% of Montgomery County households have a median household income greater than $141,667. This represents the top 50% of median income across the county.
If you use Adam’s language of the mighty 7, there are 7 zip codes, representing 11% of the households in Montgomery County in the top 24% of wealth. This is equivalent to 16 of the lowest income zip codes, or 52% of all households.
Here are the top 10 zip codes in Montgomery County:
| Households | Median Income | |
| 20896 | 336 | $ 241,875.00 |
| 20817 | 13,619 | $ 217,674.00 |
| 20854 | 17,030 | $ 217,477.00 |
| 20816 | 6,373 | $ 213,828.00 |
| 20818 | 755 | $ 205,391.00 |
| 20833 | 2,615 | $ 186,888.00 |
| 20837 | 2,229 | $ 179,848.00 |
| 20815 | 13,233 | $ 175,053.00 |
| 20841 | 2,920 | $ 167,353.00 |
| 20862 | 155 | $ 165,724.00 |
So what does this tell me? It tells me that years of progressive policy, reiterated though non-stop rhetoric on inequality has not moved the needle in MoCo. The majority (lower household incomes) give their votes on the promises of change, and yet nothing changes. Maybe it is time to wake up and try something different?
