See what ranks highest on income and college education
Washington: ‘Megalopolis of eggheads’
A photograph hanging in Cherry Farley’s home office in a neighborhood
of big houses and big ambitions reminds her what it means to have no
home at all.
The image is an aerial view of Saigon, taken by her father from a helicopter as the family was fleeing Vietnam in 1975, when Farley was 10.
The family wound up in North Carolina, where her parents found blue-collar jobs at a cotton mill. But they went to college at night and became engineers, an achievement that allowed Farley and her two siblings to grow up in a modest three-bedroom house with one bathroom.
Now Farley and her husband, Michael, who was raised on a farm and went to college on a ROTC scholarship, work for defense contractors. Their combined income affords them a spacious five-bedroom house with 3.5 baths. Two of their three daughters have left for college, so it’s just the three of them now.
“I’ve come a long way,” said Farley, 46, pondering her path from a refugee camp to one of the country’s most affluent and educated Zip codes. “This is a wonderful area. I’m not sure all the people who live [here] recognize that. If all you’ve ever known is an upper-middle-class life, it’s hard to see how nice we have it.”
Farley resides in Clarksville, Md., a bedroom community midway between Washington and Baltimore where the median household income tops $181,000, more than triple the national average.
An astonishing 98 percent of River Hill High School’s graduates head to college. Volvos, Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs are scattered throughout the student parking lot. Even pets get in on the refined tastes of their owners; in a small shopping center near the school, a shop specializing in organic dog food is next door to the organic grocery store.
The image is an aerial view of Saigon, taken by her father from a helicopter as the family was fleeing Vietnam in 1975, when Farley was 10.
The family wound up in North Carolina, where her parents found blue-collar jobs at a cotton mill. But they went to college at night and became engineers, an achievement that allowed Farley and her two siblings to grow up in a modest three-bedroom house with one bathroom.
Now Farley and her husband, Michael, who was raised on a farm and went to college on a ROTC scholarship, work for defense contractors. Their combined income affords them a spacious five-bedroom house with 3.5 baths. Two of their three daughters have left for college, so it’s just the three of them now.
“I’ve come a long way,” said Farley, 46, pondering her path from a refugee camp to one of the country’s most affluent and educated Zip codes. “This is a wonderful area. I’m not sure all the people who live [here] recognize that. If all you’ve ever known is an upper-middle-class life, it’s hard to see how nice we have it.”
Farley resides in Clarksville, Md., a bedroom community midway between Washington and Baltimore where the median household income tops $181,000, more than triple the national average.
An astonishing 98 percent of River Hill High School’s graduates head to college. Volvos, Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs are scattered throughout the student parking lot. Even pets get in on the refined tastes of their owners; in a small shopping center near the school, a shop specializing in organic dog food is next door to the organic grocery store.
Finding Super Zips: The Washington Post
analyzed census data to find Zip codes where people rank highest on a
combination of income and education. They are Super Zips.
The ranks, ranging from 0 to 99, represent the average of each Zip’s percentile rankings for median household income and for the share of adults with college degrees. Super Zips rank 95 or higher. This approach is adapted from one used by author Charles Murray.
The map at top shows the nation’s 650 Super Zips. Among them, the typical household income is $120,272, and 68 percent of adults hold college degrees. That compares with $53,962 and 27 percent for the remaining 23,925 Zips shown. Only Zips with at least 500 adults are displayed.
The ranks, ranging from 0 to 99, represent the average of each Zip’s percentile rankings for median household income and for the share of adults with college degrees. Super Zips rank 95 or higher. This approach is adapted from one used by author Charles Murray.
The map at top shows the nation’s 650 Super Zips. Among them, the typical household income is $120,272, and 68 percent of adults hold college degrees. That compares with $53,962 and 27 percent for the remaining 23,925 Zips shown. Only Zips with at least 500 adults are displayed.
Clarksville sits in one of the nation’s “Super Zips” — a term coined by American Enterprise Institute scholar and author Charles Murray
to describe the country’s most prosperous, highly educated demographic
clusters. On average, they have a median household income of $120,000,
and 7 in 10 adults have college degrees.
Although these areas would be considered rare in much of the country, they’re fairly ordinary by Washington standards.
A Washington Post analysis of the latest census data shows that more than a third of Zip codes in the D.C. metro area rank in the top 5 percent nationally for income and education. But what makes the region truly unusual is that so many of the high-end Zip codes are contiguous. They form a vast land mass that bounds across 717 square miles. It stretches 60 miles from its northern tip in Woodstock, Md., to the southern end in Fairfax Station, and runs 30 miles wide from Haymarket in Prince William County to the heart of the District up to Rock Creek Parkway.
One in four households in the region are in a Super Zip, according to the Post analysis. Since the 2000 Census on which Murray based his analysis, Washington’s Super Zips have grown to encompass 100,000 more residents. Only the New York City area has more Super Zips, but they are a much smaller share of the total of that region’s Zip codes and are more scattered.
Although these areas would be considered rare in much of the country, they’re fairly ordinary by Washington standards.
A Washington Post analysis of the latest census data shows that more than a third of Zip codes in the D.C. metro area rank in the top 5 percent nationally for income and education. But what makes the region truly unusual is that so many of the high-end Zip codes are contiguous. They form a vast land mass that bounds across 717 square miles. It stretches 60 miles from its northern tip in Woodstock, Md., to the southern end in Fairfax Station, and runs 30 miles wide from Haymarket in Prince William County to the heart of the District up to Rock Creek Parkway.
One in four households in the region are in a Super Zip, according to the Post analysis. Since the 2000 Census on which Murray based his analysis, Washington’s Super Zips have grown to encompass 100,000 more residents. Only the New York City area has more Super Zips, but they are a much smaller share of the total of that region’s Zip codes and are more scattered.
Largest clusters of elite zips
t
Zip codes are large swaths of territory, and people from many
different walks of life live in them. But many Washington neighborhoods
are becoming more economically homogenous as longtime homeowners move
out and increasing housing prices prevent the less affluent from moving
in. The eventual result, in many cases, is a Super Zip. And because the
contiguous Super Zips are surrounded by areas that are almost as
well-off, it’s possible to live in a Super Zip and rarely encounter
others without college degrees or professional jobs.
“It’s a megalopolis of eggheads,” said William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution. Frey said Washington is an example of how the country is compartmentalizing itself into clusters of people with different backgrounds and world views.
“It’s a magnet for people who grew up elsewhere and came here because they want to be in a place that has an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity. But it means we’re somewhat isolated. A lot of people here may study and advocate for what’s going on in the rest of the country, but they can’t feel what’s going on if it doesn’t touch them.”
The growing number of people living in Super Zips here is redefining and reshaping the region, turning modest inner-suburb neighborhoods into upscale enclaves and outer-suburb farmland into sprawling housing developments, often gated.
Yet many who live in these rapidly evolving communities do not think of themselves as rich or elite. The cost of living, particularly for housing, eats up a large chunk of the two incomes it typically takes to afford a comfortable home in a good school district.
Life surrounded by affluence can also breed worries that might seem absurd to people who do not live in Super Zips — such as whether to hire a professional tennis coach to help a child make the school team, or get an iPhone for a child in elementary school. Some question whether their children can achieve the same level of comfort as adults they know now.
So do the children themselves.
“My parents set me up with something great,” said Heather Burns, 23, adding that she grew up hearing her Loudoun home town of Ashburn described as “Cashburn” — as in “cash to burn.”
Burns said being raised in an area with good schools gave her a foundation to succeed. Even so, she said she may soon move away: “I can’t afford to keep up their lifestyle.”
“It’s a megalopolis of eggheads,” said William H. Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution. Frey said Washington is an example of how the country is compartmentalizing itself into clusters of people with different backgrounds and world views.
“It’s a magnet for people who grew up elsewhere and came here because they want to be in a place that has an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity. But it means we’re somewhat isolated. A lot of people here may study and advocate for what’s going on in the rest of the country, but they can’t feel what’s going on if it doesn’t touch them.”
The growing number of people living in Super Zips here is redefining and reshaping the region, turning modest inner-suburb neighborhoods into upscale enclaves and outer-suburb farmland into sprawling housing developments, often gated.
Yet many who live in these rapidly evolving communities do not think of themselves as rich or elite. The cost of living, particularly for housing, eats up a large chunk of the two incomes it typically takes to afford a comfortable home in a good school district.
Life surrounded by affluence can also breed worries that might seem absurd to people who do not live in Super Zips — such as whether to hire a professional tennis coach to help a child make the school team, or get an iPhone for a child in elementary school. Some question whether their children can achieve the same level of comfort as adults they know now.
So do the children themselves.
“My parents set me up with something great,” said Heather Burns, 23, adding that she grew up hearing her Loudoun home town of Ashburn described as “Cashburn” — as in “cash to burn.”
Burns said being raised in an area with good schools gave her a foundation to succeed. Even so, she said she may soon move away: “I can’t afford to keep up their lifestyle.”
An aerial view of a
subdivision in Clarksville, Md. In this Clarksville Zip code, 75
percent of adults hold college degrees and the median household income
tops $181,000. Figures at the high-achieving River Hill High School show
98 percent of graduates head to college.
(Photo by Linda
Davidson/The Washington Post)
Although the wealthiest Americans have always lived in their own
islands of privilege, sociologists and demographers say the degree to
which today’s professional class resides in a world apart is a departure
from earlier generations. People of widely different incomes and
professions commonly lived close enough that they mingled at stores,
sports arenas and school. In an era in which women had fewer educational
and professional opportunities, lawyers married secretaries and doctors
married nurses. Now, lawyers and doctors marry each other.
A recent analysis of census data by sociologists Sean Reardon of Stanford and Kendra Bischoff of Cornell highlighted how middle-income neighborhoods have been fading away as more people live in areas that are either poor or affluent.
In 1970, 65 percent of families lived in middle-income neighborhoods; four decades later, 42 percent did.
Meanwhile, the share of families living in affluent neighborhoods doubled, from 7 percent to 15 percent, as did families living in poor neighborhoods, from 8 percent to 18 percent.
A recent analysis of census data by sociologists Sean Reardon of Stanford and Kendra Bischoff of Cornell highlighted how middle-income neighborhoods have been fading away as more people live in areas that are either poor or affluent.
In 1970, 65 percent of families lived in middle-income neighborhoods; four decades later, 42 percent did.
Meanwhile, the share of families living in affluent neighborhoods doubled, from 7 percent to 15 percent, as did families living in poor neighborhoods, from 8 percent to 18 percent.
Some sociologists think the trend is isolating well-to-do Americans
from the problems of the poor and the working poor, and impeding upward
mobility that has long been part of the American dream.
“So much of opportunity in America depends on what sociologists call social capital,” said Stephen Klineberg, a Rice University sociologist. “Who you know. Who’s willing to invest in your skills.”
As the affluent become more isolated, the working class and the poor become confined “to communities where no one has a college education and no one has connections to the world,” Klineberg said. “The social capital that’s so necessary for upward mobility is more difficult to come by than it was in the old days when there was broad-based prosperity.”
Michael Sandel, a Harvard philosopher who wrote “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” calls the parallel lives led by the affluent and everyone else the “skyboxification of American life,” characterized by skyboxes in public arenas and faster security lines at airports.
The impact may be greater on children who grow up with a distorted view of the world, because they don’t know anyone from a different socioeconomic class.
“We ought to worry about what this means for society when kids who are the most advantaged don’t grow up with much experience or understanding of how the other 95 percent live, particularly the bottom half,” said Reardon, who studies the consequences of income inequality. “Will they be less empathetic? Do they understand what it’s like to grow up poor?”
“So much of opportunity in America depends on what sociologists call social capital,” said Stephen Klineberg, a Rice University sociologist. “Who you know. Who’s willing to invest in your skills.”
As the affluent become more isolated, the working class and the poor become confined “to communities where no one has a college education and no one has connections to the world,” Klineberg said. “The social capital that’s so necessary for upward mobility is more difficult to come by than it was in the old days when there was broad-based prosperity.”
Michael Sandel, a Harvard philosopher who wrote “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets,” calls the parallel lives led by the affluent and everyone else the “skyboxification of American life,” characterized by skyboxes in public arenas and faster security lines at airports.
The impact may be greater on children who grow up with a distorted view of the world, because they don’t know anyone from a different socioeconomic class.
“We ought to worry about what this means for society when kids who are the most advantaged don’t grow up with much experience or understanding of how the other 95 percent live, particularly the bottom half,” said Reardon, who studies the consequences of income inequality. “Will they be less empathetic? Do they understand what it’s like to grow up poor?”
Pastor Gayle
Annis-Forder prays with Jonah Taylor, 5, and his brother, David Taylor, 7
at the Linden-Linthicum United Methodist Church in Clarksville, Md. To
counterbalance the area's affluence, the church sponsors youth service
missions to places like Appalachia.
(Linda Davidson/The Washington
Post)
The Rev. Gayle Annis-Forder of Linden-Linthicum United Methodist
Church in Clarksville tries to bridge the gulf of class difference by
sponsoring youth service missions to impoverished places such as
Appalachia.
“We try hard to give young people opportunities to understand not everyone lives like this,” Annis-Forder said. “Otherwise, how would they know they’re living in a bubble?”
Several teenage church members spent a weekend helping to repair an elderly woman’s small house on a winding country road. For some, the experience was an eye-opener.
“I don’t usually encounter people who aren’t like us,” Zach Hannan, a River Hill High School senior who hopes to become a doctor, said as he joined adults replacing a damaged kitchen floor. He added, “I’m not used to seeing small houses.”
“We try hard to give young people opportunities to understand not everyone lives like this,” Annis-Forder said. “Otherwise, how would they know they’re living in a bubble?”
Several teenage church members spent a weekend helping to repair an elderly woman’s small house on a winding country road. For some, the experience was an eye-opener.
“I don’t usually encounter people who aren’t like us,” Zach Hannan, a River Hill High School senior who hopes to become a doctor, said as he joined adults replacing a damaged kitchen floor. He added, “I’m not used to seeing small houses.”
Pastor Gayle
Annis-Forder administers communion at the Linden-Linthicum United
Methodist Church in Clarksville, Md. The church is in a Zip code in
which 75 percent of adults hold college degrees and the median household
income tops $181,000. The church also sponsors youth service missions
to places like Appalachia.
(Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
Hannan said that he has accompanied his parents, both psychologists,
on cruises to Europe and Alaska and that most of his friends have been
to Europe, too. Working nearby, Brandon Pelletier, who headed to Ohio
State University this fall to study business, said his friends all have
smartphones and shop for high-end clothes at the local mall.
“Polo is big,” he said of the Ralph Lauren brand.
Breanna LaTondre, who recently graduated from Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, wants to become an architect and design shelters for impoverished and disaster areas. That’s different from most of her friends, who aspire to become doctors and engineers like their parents, she said.
She has gone on six church missions to Appalachia and New Orleans, where she has met people living in flimsy house trailers and converted chicken coops.
“It was the first time I’d seen anyone who lived that way merely because they couldn’t afford better,” she said. “In Howard County, if your house doesn’t have a garage, you’re considered poor.”
Farley, a former PTA president, said some parents go to great lengths to ensure that their children succeed in some of the most desirable schools in the country. Many pay for private tutoring to help students prepare for their SATs or shell out for college resume-building summer camps and trips.
“Polo is big,” he said of the Ralph Lauren brand.
Breanna LaTondre, who recently graduated from Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, wants to become an architect and design shelters for impoverished and disaster areas. That’s different from most of her friends, who aspire to become doctors and engineers like their parents, she said.
She has gone on six church missions to Appalachia and New Orleans, where she has met people living in flimsy house trailers and converted chicken coops.
“It was the first time I’d seen anyone who lived that way merely because they couldn’t afford better,” she said. “In Howard County, if your house doesn’t have a garage, you’re considered poor.”
Farley, a former PTA president, said some parents go to great lengths to ensure that their children succeed in some of the most desirable schools in the country. Many pay for private tutoring to help students prepare for their SATs or shell out for college resume-building summer camps and trips.
Wealthy and educated demographic clusters of “Super Zips” — rare in much of the U.S. — make up one-third of the D.C. area.
School of Economics live a few doors away.
While she was growing up in nearby Falls Church during the 1970s and
’80s, Mangum said, the area did not seem as overtly affluent as it is
today. Many of the neighboring houses like hers have been transformed,
with spacious additions, or replaced by much larger houses.But the biggest change she notices is how many women have well-paying jobs, sometimes earning more than their husbands do.
“Yes, nationally more women work outside the home than in the ’60s,” she said. “But locally, the additional change is that so many now work in these higher-level jobs.”
Mangum is glad the schools have a community service requirement, exposing children to people who have less. Her son works in a thrift shop and at the Humane Society.
Life in the bubble, she said, carries its own burdens, particularly for children growing up knowing that a four-year college degree is the minimum expected of them, and most will need go on to graduate school.
“It’s a paradox,” she said. “People have lush lives, with all the things they have. But the pressure is intense.”
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