McHenry County Blog

For some reason the title reminds me of a song from my past, but it describes what the Charlotte Observer reporter Ted Mellnik has put together for every county in the United States from IRS data.

Here is an article using the data by LeighDyer.

But for McHenry County, a better title would be

“Rich People Moving In, Rich People Moving Out.”

That’s because in McHenry County the people doing both earn more than the average McHenry County family’s $50,121.

The families moving to McHenry County earn 65% more than those living here.

Maybe that explains the “Starter Mansions,” a term I first heard attributed to McHenry County Board member Virginia Peschke.

Those moving out earn “only” 29% more than average.

Looking at the first five years of this century, the data shows 86,636 folks moved in and 64,445 moved out.

That’s a net gain of 18,191, but “figures include only include people listed as exemptions on returns, so totals will be less than population,” the footnote says.

250,429 McHenry Countians did not migrate.

Of perhaps more interest is that the people moving out earn less money than the people moving in.

The people moving in earn $7,539 more than those moving out.

Are they going to better jobs elsewhere?

Or does that mean that McHenry County is getting too expensive for some residents?

Or is it a combination of both?

The figures are startlingly different for those moving to and from foreign countries.

True, there aren’t many who paid federal taxes who are in this category—only 332 moving in and 387 moving out—but the median household income is starkly different.

Those moving in from other countries had incomes of $19,642. Those moving out earned $3,417 less--$16,225.

Fifty-five more people moved out than moved in, according to these tax statistics.

I certainly have a sense that there is a lot more movement even between Mexico and McHenry County than those figures indicate.

If most are going to and from Mexico, it appears the families don’t earn much. In fact, they earn less after being in McHenry County than they did before.

While the median income of McHenry County families is $50,121, it is $82,636 for those moving into McHenry County and $64,445 for those moving out.

I was alerted to this information by Metro East blogger Respublica.

Click on the images to make them larger.

Labels: McHenry County, migration