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Chesterfield is 15 percent more affluent than Henrico County
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 overly infl uenced by very high household incomes. Household income includes all outside earned moneys by family members. Chesterfield's income is 15.6 percent higher than Henrico and 22 percent higher than the Richmond metro. Hanover County's median household income ($73,247) is 5 percent more than Chesterfield's. Hanover has about one-third of the households of Chesterfield. "Our data uses the census as a foundation and then it's updated annually," said Claritas spokesperson Steve Moore. The Chesterfield Observer recently obtained and compiled the Claritas data into a 40-page booklet for presentations to business and civic groups. Presentations are being made to elected officials, county and school representatives and selected business leaders, and separately to members of the Chesterfield County Chamber of Commerce this week. To schedule a presentation, call 545-7506. "The research is really good and more current than anything we have," said Bill Handley, Chesterfield's demographer. "The median household income is a good number and consistent with census data." 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 from 2002 when the county's median income was 18.8 percent higher. Handley still believes, when it comes to residents moving in from elsewhere in the state, Chesterfield is attracting many residents from Richmond. 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 72.4 percent. According to Henrico spokesperson Steve Knockmus, his county has 43,603 multifamily homes. Chesterfield is seeing more multifamily but has only 20,060. Since homeowners typically make more money than renters, that gives Chesterfield another advantage in household income. Chesterfield has 81 percent owner-occupied homes as compared with Henrico's 66 percent. Because newer homes tend to cost more, are larger and have more features, localities with newer housing tend to attract higher incomes. The median year for a home built in Chesterfield is 1986 versus 1980 in Henrico. Even new home sales prices now are showing Chesterfield averaging higher than Henrico. Chesterfield has four 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 below). 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 ($106,642) and 23114 ($99,072). Collectively, Chesterfield residents are highly educated and financially well off. For median household income, 27.7 percent of the households earn more than $100,000 while 78 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 has slightly more white-collar employees than Chesterfield. According to Handley, that Henrico advantage is probably because white-collar workers prefer 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 (302,854) than Henrico (291,057). In the next five years, Chesterfield is projected to grow at a rate of 8.9 percent to 329,664 while Henrico's population is expected to increase at a more modest rate of 6.1 percent to 308,822. Both Claritas and the most recent census data are tracking Chesterfield's population below what the county says it is - 311,000. "Our data shows a higher housing count," said Handley. In terms of landmass, Chesterfield is twice the size of Henrico. Growth in the Midlothian area is being spurred by Route 288 while western Henrico does not have much vacant land left for development. Chesterfield has a higher percentage of Caucasians (72 percent versus 63 percent) and Hispanics (5.3 percent versus 3.6 percent) than Henrico while Henrico has more African Americans (28 percent versus 22 percent). Chesterfield's population is also slightly younger than Henrico's. The median age in Chesterfield is 36.7 years compared to 37.9 years in Henrico. In Chesterfield, 43.7 percent of the homes have children under 18 present compared to Henrico's 34.9 percent. 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 $213,596, slightly higher than Henrico's. Chesterfield's Real Estate Assessor's Office reports the median assessed value as of January 2008 was $193,200. Homes typically sell for slightly higher than assessed value. The median sales price for all homes sold last year was $235,725. "The housing values look fine to me," confi rms Handley. "New homes are selling for an average of $384,000 in the county, but that's a small percentage of Chesterfield's housing stock. The less expensive homes don't come on the market that often because you have to be prepared to buy a more expensive home." Claritas Headquartered in San Diego, Claritas represents many Fortune 500 companies as a provider for marketing research. They include Ace Hardware, Grubb & Ellis, Sovereign Bank, TDS Telecom and The Gannett Company. It has field offices in Arlington, New York, Atlanta, Ithaca (N.Y.) and Wilton (Conn.). Claritas is part of the same company that surveys television audiences, ACNielsen. For more information, visit www.claritas.com.
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