A New Study Featuring America’s Most Trust-Funded Cities Gives A Glimpse into Where We Long to Be.
America’s obsession with wealth has been the focus of arts, politics and culture since the country’s beginning. And now, as the wealthiest Americans are richer than ever before, the rest of the nation is still obsessed with the lives that their heavy wallets can afford. One of the most common parts of luxurious lifestyles to focus on is the areas where the super-rich live.
Looking at these wealthy cities offers an insight into what Americans wish for the most and may offer ideas of which luxuries should be made available to more Americans. Luckily, a new study from insurance company Coventry shows exactly which cities in the United States are the most trust-funded. By considering factors like home values and incomes, counts of local trust and fiduciary firms and institutions like private schools and country clubs, the study was able to rank different cities for their residents’ wealth and elitism. The insights show which cities should be held up as standards of class and glamour.
The top-ranked city overall was Los Altos Hills, CA, scoring 43 from a possible 50 points measuring wealth and luxury. The beautiful Northern California city is filled with horse ranches and sprawling vistas. Also, given the proximity of Los Altos Hills to Silicon Valley and San Francisco, tech and business heads see Los Altos Hills as the perfect escape after long days working in their high-paying jobs. Such is the case for Google CEO Sundar Pichai and his famous neighbors. Perhaps, if more Americans were to acquire personal wealth, they would follow Los Altos Hillians suit and leave behind even the most expensive cities.
The study also looked at the cities with the highest number of private school attendees. The top city was Bryn Mawr, a city famous for The Bryn Mawr School for girls, with over 32,000 students enrolled in private school per capita. Other top cities included nearby Doylestown, PA and Princeton, NJ, where elite private schools raised future politicians and businessmen alike. While it’s understandable that Americans would flock to these cities in order to enroll children in elite institutions, other popular establishments in Northeastern trust-funded cities like the art museums and galleries or historic sites suggest that Americans would want to educate themselves as well.
Finally, the study took a look at different cities’ total number of CEO residents. The top spot went to San Jose and Los Altos Hills, California, where tech CEOs spend their time off the computer. However, more surprising cities like Brentwood, TN and Minneapolis, MN also ranked highly. Perhaps the popularity of these cities for middle-America CEOs suggests that newly-rich Americans would seek to stay close to their roots even if that means saying no to coastal zip codes.
The places where the wealthiest Americans live certainly have the ability to capture our attention and imagination. As Americans continue to climb the ladder of success, we can all only hope that even though money can’t buy happiness, it can at least pay the mortgage on a happy home.
