JEFFERSON, Pa. (EYT) – While many local residents may look at Jefferson County and the surrounding area as a sleepy region of average middle-class rural residents, it turns out some of the state’s wealthiest residents have chosen it as their home.
(Photo courtesy Kyle Yates Photography)
According to recent data available from the Department of Revenue, Jefferson County has 14 million-dollar earners among its residents who earn a combined total of over $26.28 million, averaging $1.9 million each.
While Jefferson County does have its own share of millionaires, neighboring Clarion County is actually the home of Pennsylvania’s wealthiest million-dollar earners, with 12 residents who have combined earnings of over $57 million, meaning each of those dozen has an average annual income of more than $4.8 million.
“Good for them,” Clarion County Commissioner Ted Tharan told ExploreJeffersonPA.com.
“It’s good that wealth is in Clarion County. As the old saying goes, you can’t take it with you. I’m truly happy for those people and I think that means things are still happening in Clarion County.”
“I think that’s fantastic,” Tharan added.
“I don’t begrudge anyone any money that they make. That means they’re out working hard, using their mind. An old fella once told me you don’t make money with your hands, you make it with your head, and I still believe that.”
According to statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, the number of millionaires in the state has been on the increase. While the largest concentration of those with an annual income of over $1 million is highest in the region surrounding Philadelphia, accounting for just over half of the state’s million-dollar earners, the more rural parts of the state haven’t been left entirely in the dust.
Neighboring counties in our region also have their share of those with seven-figure earnings. Elk County has 22 residents that earn a combined total of over $32.09 million, averaging $1.5 million each, and Clearfield County has 21 residents that earned a combined total of over $44.04 million, averaging $2.1 million each.
The concentration of wealth grows heading closer to Pittsburgh, with Butler sporting 224 resident millionaires earning a combined total of $548,418,099, averaging about $2.5 million each.
The overall earnings of Pennsylvania’s millionaires have been on the increase as well, increasing nearly 30 percent in the last four years, from $35.7 billion to $48.3 billion, while the total income of those in lower-earning groups has risen just 0.4 percent.
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