Median Family Income, 2010

The place with the highest median family income is the Washington, D.C., metro area, which includes the nation's capital, as well as wealthy suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. In 2009 families in this region earned a median income of $102,340, a 0.7% increase from 2008. D.C. also boasts a better than average unemployment rate of 5.9%, far below the September's 9.2% national average.

In places like San Jose, Calif., (No. 3) and San Francisco (No. 5), the effects of the recession are more obvious. San Jose, part of the country's biggest tech hub, saw median family income drop 6.5% to $96,443. San Francisco, a financial center which also relies heavily on the tech industry, experienced a decrease of 3.7% to $90,734.

Wealthy suburbs on the East Coast also saw negative growth, even though incomes are still high. In second-ranked Greenwich, Conn., (No. 2) and the surrounding areas that make up the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., Metropolitan Statistical Area, median family income plummeted by 6.7% to $98,118.

So will next year's numbers look better for the rest of the country? If you consider unemployment rates, the prospects aren't good: Overall U.S. unemployment rates have climbed from 5.8% in 2008 to 9.3% in 2009 and an estimated 9.7% in 2010. But Shierholz says there will be more places showing recovery, even if the country at large still struggles. "On average the median income will come down a bit," she says. "But there will be metro areas that see improvement."

Anchorage, Alaska, metropolitan statistical area
Median family income: $83,180