Median household income rose 1.5% last year.

According to a survey by Sales & Marketing Management magazine, the median disposable income (one-half of all U.S. households had disposable incomes above the figure and one-half had incomes below) rose after taxes to $25,496. Northeast cities and counties lead the list of affluent areas, while the nation’s poorest metropolitan areas were primarily in Sun Belt.

Median Household Income, Top 5 communities, after taxes, in 1984

$41,279 New York’s Nassau and Suffolk counties $39,223 Connecticut’s Bridgeport, Stamford, Norwalk and Danbury area $38,145 Anchorage $38,100 New Jersey’s Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon $37,776 San Jose $25,496 National Average