Two recent national studies report more good news for Manhattan. A national salary survery from the bureau of labor statistics just released and a national property tax study from The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research report were reported by Rueters in The NY Post. 

Manhattan Salaries Highest in the country:

Equivalent to nearly $147,000 per year, average weekly pay for Manhattan residents of $2,821 is up 16.7 percent from the same period of 2006, maintaining its spot as the wealthiest county in the United States.

Nationally, the average rise was 5.1 percent to $885 per week, or $46,000 per year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.

After Manhattan, the country's top-ranked counties in the first quarter were Fairfield, Connecticut, a New York City suburb, at $1,979, followed by Suffolk, Massachusetts, which includes Boston, at $1,659, and San Francisco at $1,639.

Four of the 10 counties with the highest average wages were in the New York area, while three others were in and around San Francisco, near the Silicon Valley high-technology corridor.

Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the capital Washington ranked first at $1,428 per week, followed by New York state at $1,397, Connecticut at $1,263, Massachusetts at $1,110 and New Jersey at $1,097.

In terms of increase in wages, Manhattan is the fastest-growing county in the nation according to the bureau of labor statistics

Low Property Taxes: Manhattan Real estate taxes ranked 71st:

New York and New Jersey residents paid the highest property taxes in the United States in 2006. The rest of the Top 10 property-taxed counties also were in New York and New Jersey including Westchester and Nassau counties and Hunterdon County, N.J. which has the highest property tax in the nation.

Well down on the list was Manhattan. It placed 71st, with an average of $3,565 in taxes - although the median home value was $787,900, one of the highest in the nation.

When the states, instead of just the counties, were examined, New Jersey led the list of the Top 5, followed by New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts.

"These states also have high per-capita income, and the highest property-tax bills, in terms of dollar amounts, are usually found in the areas with the highest incomes," the study said.