SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
The richest retirees in the U.S. live here
Jul 31, 2012, 2:09 PM | Updated: 2:20 pm
Where do the richest retirees in the U.S. live? Medina? No, but close. The richest retirees in America are in Hunts Point, according to Bloomberg news, which marvels that people would want to retire there instead of Florida considering the Eastside city has more than 150 days of rain.
Hunts Point, population 429, is home to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Costco co-founder Jim Sinegal. Sinegal hosted President Barack Obama’s private fundraiser last week. It also has a lot of other rich people.
The community had an average household retirement income of $200,431 in 2010.
That makes Hunt Point number one in Bloomberg’s list of list of 37 places with the wealthiest older residents. About 21 percent of residents are 65 or older there.
Based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the Hunts Point retirement income is nine times the national average.
The wealthy community was founded by a Leigh S. J. Hunt, a resident of nearby Yarrow Point, who acquired property in what would become his namesake city in 1870. HistoryLink.org says he bought the property so he could cut down the tall evergreen trees which obstructed views of Lake Washington.
Today, Hunts Point still has great views and larger properties than many cities. Almost half of the homes have at least an acre on Lake Washington. The median home value is a sweet $1 million.
Photo courtesy Zillow.com of a lovely Hunts Point home currently for sale, listed at $13.8 million.
