County is 17% more affluent than Henrico
By Greg Pearson

The median household income in Chesterfield County is $10,000 more than in Henrico County. According to Claritas, one of the leading research companies in the nation, Chesterfield's median household income this year is $67,228 compared to Henrico's $57,138. The median household income in the Richmond metro, which encompasses 16 counties, four cities and the town of Ashland, is $55,617.

Median income means one-half of the households are above that figure and one-half are below. Median income is considered more meaningful by researchers than average income because the latter is influenced by very high household incomes. Household income includes all outside earned moneys by family members.

Chesterfield's income is 17.6 percent higher than Henrico and 23.9 percent higher than the Richmond metro. Hanover County's median household income ($69,739) is 3.7 percent more than Chesterfield's, primarily because Hanover has onethird the population of Chesterfield.

The Chesterfield Observer recently obtained and compiled the Claritas data into a 40-page booklet for presentations to business and civic groups. To schedule a presentation, call 545-7501.

"The data looks good to me, and it's more current than anything the county has," said Chesterfield County Demographer Bill Handley. "The data is reliable and valid."

Chesterfield's median income is higher than Henrico's because the county's demographics include slightly more male residents, fewer minorities and more married couples who out-earn single people. There are also more owner-occupied homes and more single-family housing in Chesterfield.

Though Chesterfield has a significant lead in affluence over Henrico, that lead has declined slightly. In 2004, the last time the Chesterfield Observer reported Claritas data, the county's median income was 20 percent higher than Henrico's. Handley attributed the decline in income difference to more multifamily housing in Chesterfield and the influx of more Richmond city residents (who have lower household incomes) moving to the county.

One reason why Chesterfield has more affluent residents is because its housing stock is predominately single-family. More than 85 percent of Chesterfield's housing is singlefamily compared to Henrico's 72.1 percent.

Since homeowners typically make more money than renters, that gives Chesterfield another advantage in household income. Chesterfield has 81 percent owner-occupied homes as contrasted with Henrico's 66 percent.

Because newer homes tend to cost more, are larger and have more features, localities with newer housing tend to have higher median incomes. The median year built for a home in Chesterfield is 1985 versus 1979 in Henrico.

Chesterfield has five of the top 10 zip codes with the highest median household incomes in metro Richmond and 10 of the top 25 zip codes (see chart). Some of those post offices, however, deliver mail to homes outside of Chesterfield County. Midlothian's 23113 zip code, for example, also serves part of Powhatan County.

The top two median household income zip codes have post offices in Chesterfield: 23113 ($103,047) and 23114 ($95,138).

Collectively, Chesterfield residents are highly educated and financially well off. In median household income, 25 percent of the households earn more than $100,000 while over 66 percent of households earn more than $50,000. Almost two-thirds of Chesterfield residents are currently married, a higher percent than in Henrico or the metro with 57 percent each.

Henrico is home to 2.6 percent more white collar workers than Chesterfield. According to Handley, that Henrico advantage is probably because white collar workers tend to live near where they work, and Henrico has more large office complexes.

Population growth

The Claritas research also reports that Chesterfield continues to have a larger population (290,320) than Henrico (284,189). In the next five years, Chesterfield is projected to grow at a rate of 8.7 percent to 315,713 while Henrico's population is expected to increase at a more modest rate of 7 percent to 304,295.

In terms of land mass, Chesterfield is twice the size of Henrico. Growth in the Midlothian area is being spurred by the opening of Route 288 while western Henrico does not have much vacant land left for development.

According to the Weldon Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia, from 2000-2005, Chesterfield was the fourth fastest growing county in the state, adding 26,600 in population. The fastest growing counties were Loudoun (82,700), Prince William (74,500) and Fairfax (52,400). Henrico County ranked seventh with an increase of 21,000.

Chesterfield has a higher percentage of Caucasians (72 percent versus 63.4 percent) and Hispanics (4.5 percent versus 3.1 percent) than Henrico while Henrico has more AfricanAmericans (27.1 percent versus 21 percent).

Chesterfield's population is also slightly younger than Henrico's. The median age in Chesterfield is 36.3 years compared to 37.5 years in Henrico. Children under the age of 18 represent 31.7 percent of Chesterfield's population but just 24.6 percent of Henrico's. Only 8.3 percent of Chesterfield residents are age 65 or older compared to 12.4 percent in Henrico.

Housing

The median owner-occupied housing value in Chesterfield is $175,962, one percent lower than in Henrico. Housing values in Chesterfield grew 23 percent in the past two years, according to Claritas.

"The homeowner values look right to me," said Handley.

Chesterfield's Real Estate Assessor's Office reports it doesn't have the median assessed value for homes, but its current average assessed value is $191,060. Average assessments would be higher than median assessments.

"Less expensive homes in the county are less likely to be sold because then you would have to buy a more expensive house or move further out, like to Amelia," explained Handley.

His data shows that from 1995-2005, an average of 635 multifamily housing units were built per year. Last year, 1,579 were built, bringing Chesterfield's total to 19,078. Henrico's has 42,222 apartments, condominiums and townhouses.

Handley surmised that Chesterfield is attracting more out-of-town buyers "because they haven't heard about living north of the river." People from the Northeast and Midwest want garages which, he said, are more prevalent in Chesterfield than Henrico.

"When you attract more outsiders, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy," he continued. "You get more people from outside the area because you have more people from outside the area."

"If you do any kind of research on where to live in the Richmond area, you'll choose Chesterfield. It's an economically sound decision...because you get more land and square footage for less money," Handley added. "Our school systems are a wash [in quality compared to Henrico]. We have more kids, and parents want their families in neighborhoods with kids."

Claritas

Headquartered in San Diego, Claritas represents many Fortune 500 companies as a provider for marketing research. It has field offices in Arlington, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Ithaca (NY) and Wilton (CN).

Claritas is a division of VNU, an information and media company that includes ACNielsen, Nielsen Media Research, Spectra Marketing Systems and Scarborough Research. For more information, visit www.claritas.com.