Where do Lake Country's richest live?

Posted: Feb. 6, 2012

A Lake Country resident is generally white, has a white collar job, and lives in a household that has a total income of at least $50,000.

That is a snapshot of 17 area communities based on a review of income, occupation and race from U.S. Census data. The data shows an extreme difference in income from community to community and an increase in minorities moving into the area, especially in the easternmost municipalities.

Doing well financially

According to the 2010 Census, Lac La Belle has the highest median household income of total households of the area communities surveyed, at $171,250. The community with the lowest median household income is Dousman, at $58,194. All the area communities came in above the state median household income level of $49,001 and the national level of $50,221.

Nearly half of the households, 47.5 percent, in Lac La Belle have an income above $200,000 and about 67 percent of the 122 households in the village have incomes exceeding $150,000. Chenequa is second highest in the area, with a median household income of $135,313, with 71 households, or 31.4 percent of the 279 households, having an income $200,000 or above.

The municipality with the most households with a median income of $200,000 or more is the City of Pewaukee with 429, or 8.2 percent of the 5,212 households. The Town of Delafield follows, with 323 households with median incomes of $200,000 or more, or 22.3 percent of the 2,732 households in the town.

On the other end of the spectrum is Nashotah, where 5 percent of households' income in 2010 was $10,000 or less. According to the census there were 50 households in that range out of a total of 1,000 households.

The Village of Hartland had the most households in the area - 149 - with an income of $10,000 or less. That is 4.3 percent of all households in the village.

Lac La Belle did not have any households with income less that $10,000 or the next category of $14,000, the only community in the area that can make that claim.

Wally Thiel, Hartland's administrator for 15 years, said the village has more low income than other communities because of the "high number of apartments." Thiel said when he first came to Hartland 15 years ago the community consisted of about 55 percent rental units. Now it's about 40 percent multifamily and 60 percent single-family, which he called "a healthy mix."

"We wanted to rebalance the equation," he said. "We've moved that way."

He said it's time for more rental units, but not necessarily low income, he said. Thiel said it is "entirely appropriate" to create rental units in the downtown area.

"We have a fair number of lower-, middle-income housing compared to our neighbors, with the possible exception of our neighbor the Village of Pewaukee," he said.

Regarding housing for those in the low- to moderate-income range, Thiel said the village has "a substantial number to meet that need."

The income data for 2010 was complied from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which covered the period from 2006 to 2009. The income for that period was adjusted for inflation for 2010.

Incomes rise - sort of

Comparing median income from the 2000 Census, which reflects income from 1999, all the communities saw increases. However, when inflation is factored in, 13 of the 17 communities surveyed showed either a decrease, no increase or a marginal increase.

What may be somewhat surprising is two of the more affluent communities - Chenequa and Oconomowoc Lake - saw a decrease in median household income. In 1999, the median household income in Chenequa was about $163,000; by 2010, that had dropped to $135,000, according to the census. When adjusted for inflation, the 1999 income is about $212,000, leading to a 36-percent drop in real spending value over the course of the decade.

In Oconomowoc Lake, the median income dropped from about $112,700 in 1999 to $103,100 in 2010. Adjusted for inflation, the 1999 income equals $146,000 in 2010, resulting in a decrease of real income of 29 percent.

By contrast, in Lac La Belle the median income during that time soared from $96,700 to $171,250, an increase of 77 percent. When adjusted for inflation, the 1999 median income equates to about $125,000 in real spending power, resulting in an increase of 37 percent over the course of the decade.

Of the less-affluent communities, the Village of Pewaukee saw the largest decrease in income when adjusted for inflation. In 1999, the median household income in the village was about $53,900 and rose to about $56,400 by 2010. Taking into account inflation, the 1999 income would have equaled $69,800 in 2010 dollars, resulting in a 19-percent decrease in the median household income.

White collar workers

A typical Lake Country resident likely is in an occupation related to management, business, science or the arts. Based on the census data, about 40 percent or more of employed residents in 15 of the communities surveyed have a job in that occupational category. In Chenequa, nearly 70 percent of those employed fall in that category, the highest in the region. Lisbon and Hartland each have 38 percent of its residents working in that category, the lowest in the area.

The next most-popular category in the area is in sales and office occupations, according to the census.

More diversity?

Lake Country is overwhelmingly white, with some communities having virtually no racial diversity.

The area community with the most diversity is the Village of Pewaukee, where 92.4 percent of the population is listed as white. The two major minorities in the village are Asians at 3.9 percent and Hispanic at 3.5 percent, according to the census.

The community with the second highest percentage of minorities is the Town of Delafield, where 3.1 percent of the population is listed as black and 2.4 percent as Hispanic.

The least-diverse community is Lac La Belle with 99 percent of the population (286 or 289 people) listed as being white.

The City of Delafield is the second least diverse community in the area, with 97.2 percent of its residents being white. Hispanics make up 3.2 percent of the city's population and Asians 1.3 percent.

Of the communities, the largest minority group is Hispanics. Asians make up the largest minorities in the two Pewaukees, and blacks in the Town of Delafield.

A comparison of the 2000 Census with the 2010 Census regarding the percentage of whites in the community as a whole, shows a larger demographic change in the eastern communities in the area than in the western communities. The Village of Pewaukee had the largest influx of minorities over the decade. In 2000, 96.2 percent of the village was white, compared to 92.4 percent in 2010. The City of Pewaukee was 97.2 percent white in 2000 compared to 94.3 percent in 2010. Sussex saw a drop from 97 percent in 2000 to 95.2 percent in 2010, while the Town of Delafield remained at about 94 percent over the course of the decade.

Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority in the area, with all the surveyed communities seeing an increase, except for Lac La Belle, according to the data.

The City of Oconomowoc has the largest Hispanic population with 559, up from 204 in 2000, the most in the area at that time as well. The Village of Pewaukee was second with 286 in 2010, up from 99 in 2000. In 2000, the City of Pewaukee was second in the area with 153 Hispanics. Hispanics made up 3.5 percent of the populations in the City of Oconomowoc and the Village of Pewaukee.

The Village of Merton saw the largest percentage increase in Hispanics over the decade at 414 percent from 14 in 2000 to 72 in 2010. The City of Delafield was second at 138 percent, from 96 in 2000 to 286 in 2010.