Illinois Richest Income City Has a Railroad Going Right Thru It

I'm being honest when I say that this Illinois place doesn't look like the richest city in the state, but I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just that when you see a place that has a railroad going right through the middle of it, you don't automatically equate that with wealth, but in this case it's true.

This isn't the result of some bloggers opinion or some new national internet ranking. I simply asked the database at USA.com to query its numbers and show me the richest Illinois cities based on per-capita income. Here are the top 20 results:

1. $125,686 Mettawa, IL / 455
2. $103,788 Glencoe, IL / 8,824
3. $98,139 Winnetka, IL / 12,366
4. $97,381 Kenilworth, IL / 2,648
5. $91,623 Inverness, IL / 7,516
6. $91,555 Barrington Hills, IL / 3,653
7. $86,004 Lake Forest, IL / 18,914
8. $81,213 Oak Brook, IL / 7,967
9. $79,535 Hinsdale, IL / 16,898
10. $78,978 Riverwoods, IL / 3,792
11. $78,326 North Barrington, IL / 3,105
12. $77,903 Wayne, IL / 2,445
13. $75,185 South Barrington, IL / 4,811
14. $71,282 The Galena Territory, IL / 1,116
15. $70,886 Burr Ridge, IL / 10,678
16. $68,688 Highland Park, IL / 29,819
17. $67,595 Long Grove, IL / 8,017
18. $67,116 Wilmette, IL / 27,345
19. $67,084 Lincolnshire, IL / 7,270
20. $66,662 Hawthorn Woods, IL / 7,727

This is the view that you'll see right in the middle of Mettawa, Illinois.

When you see where this tiny community is located, you begin to understand where that average $125,000 per person income comes from.

Wikipedia says that Mettawa, Illinois is named after "Potawatomi chief Mettaywah, who lived in the area before signing the 1833 Treaty of Chicago". I'm guessing that the amount of cash the government gave the tribe for this area was pennies on the dollar compared to what it was really worth. Now, it's one of those parts of Chicagoland where you can make a home near the Windy City yet not have to deal with high crime rates. Money can buy you something after all.