The Nashville suburbs in Williamson County may have the highest average per capita income in Tennessee, but the highest net worth is in Cumberland County where retirement communities like Fairfield Glade, Crab Orchard and Pleasant Hill have lured wealthier retirees.
A new study ranking the highest net worth counties by the online personal finance website SmartAssets identified Cumberland County as No. 1 county in Tennessee due primarily to its favorable wealth-to-income and wealth-to-debt ratios.
Although the highest per capita income counties are primarily in the Nashville suburbs in Middle Tennessee, residents in the East Tennessee communities around Crossville have the highest net worth-to-income and net worth-to-debt ratios anywhere in the state. The study found that the per capita net worth in Cumberland County of $35,009 was nearly one and a half time greater than per capita income of $23,668 income and 35% more than the per capita debt of $25,887.
Williamson County around Franklin, Tennessee has the highest net worth and income, but the SmartAssets formula comparing net worth to income and debt put Williamson behind Cumberland County.
"The counties with the highest overall index values represent those that have accumulated the highest net worth per capita, relative to income and debt, according to our study," said Steve Sabato of SmartAssets.
Cumberland County has benefited by an influx of retirees to Fairfield Glade and other retirement communities that offer five 18-hole golf courses, several tennis courts, and 11 fishing lakes in the area.
Among the 95 counties in Tennessee, those with the highest net worth, relative to income and debt, are:
1. Cumberland 2. Williamson 3. Wilson 4. Loudon 5. Cheatham 6. Carroll 7. Fayette 8. Benton 9. Humphreys 10. Hardemann Source: SmartAssets, based upon the radio of per capita net worth to income and to debt.