Stafford makes Forbes again

Stafford County has again made Forbes. In January, Forbes ran an article listing 20 U.S. localities with the highest median household incomes in a 2006 survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Stafford placed 11th. Late last month, Forbes had an article listing Stafford County as No. 1 on a list of "Best Places to Get Ahead." Forbes looked at counties that have had solid income and job growth to come to its conclusions. Here is what Forbes had to say about Stafford:

It’s not in the immediate vicinity of Washington D.C., but Stafford County is within the metropolitan area. It may not be as well-off as nearby counties like Arlington or Loudoun, but the steep curve of economic growth makes it a quickly developing business center. The median income is $85,014, up 27% from 2000, and jobs have increased at just under a 6% clip over that same period of time.

We recently ran an article showing that Stafford had been among the fastest growers in the state in jobs, number of businesses and wages between 2002 and 2007.

It’s been a tough year for Stafford in some respects — county residents have faced mandatory water restrictions, sharply falling housing prices and increasing numbers of foreclosures. But business growth has seemingly softened the blow.

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