CNN Ranks Bethesda As Nation's "Top Earning" Town

Bethesda has been named the nation's "top-earning" town in a recent ranking by CNN Money.

Bethesda's median family income in 2011 was $184,606, according to the ranking, one of several released by CNN as part of its study of America's best places to live.

The No. 2 top-earning town-- Greenwich, Conn. -- has a median income of $167,502.

Nearby Ashburn, VA, came in at No. 6 with a median income of $146,093. Families in Arlington, VA, earn an average of $132,580, making it the No.  11 top-earning town nationally.

Other towns included in the Top 10 were Newton, MA, at No. 7; Palo Alto, CA, at No. 3; and Lower Merion, PA, at No. 5.

With a median home sale price of $740,000, CNN Money also ranked Bethesda as the small city with the ninth priciest homes in the country.

While Bethesda didn't rank in CNN Money's top 100 overall greatest small cities to live,

Carmel, IN, was named the top town. Gaithersburg ranked 23rd and Germantown No. 24.  Other regional cities to make the list were:

• Reston, VA (No. 7)
• Columbia/ Ellicott City, MD (No. 8)
• Centreville, VA (No. 17)
• Waldorf, MD, (No. 20)

According to CNN, places with populations between 50,000 and 300,000 were ranked based on home affordability, safety, school quality, health care, arts and leisure, diversity and “several ease-of-living criteria.”

Screened out were towns with median family incomes of more than 200 percent or less than 85 percent of the state average; places with more than 95 percent of one race and those with “poor education and crime scores,” according to CNN, which posted its methodology online.

The rankings also excluded retirement communities and places with “major job losses,” according to CNN.