By Adam Andrzejewski

Atherton, California, is the richest town in America with an average annual household income of $525,000. Located 20 miles from Silicon Valley, the San Francisco suburb is home to the many tech titans of Google GOOG  0.3% and Facebook. 

Knowing this, Americans would be right to ask why Nancy Pelosi’s Heroes Act shelled out $3.8 million in coronavirus “aid” money to Atherton. We contacted Speaker Pelosi and the Atherton city manager for comment and did not receive a response. 

Atherton isn’t the only rich suburb to receive bailouts from American taxpayers. Our auditors at OpenTheBooks.com cross-referenced the nation’s 50 richest communities listed in the Bloomberg 2020 Richest Places with Heroes Act coronavirus bailouts.

We found the 50 richest places in the country received $350 million in bailouts. 

In these wealthy communities, the average household income ranged from #1 Atherton, CA ($525,324) to #50 Darnestown, MD ($262,988). Other top places included:

• #16 Old Greenwich, CT ($321,377 income/ $5.9 million bailout)
• #18 Palm Beach, FL ($314,090 income/ $4.4 million bailout)
• #36 Wellesley, MA ($277,568 income/ $14.7 million bailout)
• #37 Malibu, CA ($275,675 income/ $6.3 million bailout)
• #46 Lake Forest, IL ($265,477 income/ $9.7 million bailout)

Here are the Top 10 Richest Places in America and how they split their Heroes Act bailout allocation: 

#1. Atherton, CA (income: $525,324/ bailout: $3.8 million) – With a median home price of $7.5 million, Atherton is home to tech billionaires and sports stars. Steph Curry of the Los Angeles Lakers purchased a $31 million home. Whatsapp founder, Jan Koum, paid $57 million for a mega-compound.  

#2. Scarsdale, NY (income: $452,041/ bailout: $8.8 million) – With a median home sales price of $1.2 million, Scarsdale is the richest town on the East Coast. A 35-minute train ride from New York City, the town sports quaint shops and top-rated schools. Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a home in Scarsdale.

#3. Hillsborough, CA (income: $430,681/ bailout: $5.7 million) – With a median home price of $5.4 million, notable residents include Bing Crosby, Elon Musk, Jenny Craig, Jimmy Kimmel and Salote Mafile’o Pilolevu Tuita, a Tongan princess. 

#4. Cherry Hills Village, CO (income: $406,314/ bailout: $3.3 million) – With a median home price of $2 million, the community is located 10 miles from Denver. Notable residents include John Elway and Peyton Manning. Madeline Albright and Condoleezza Rice graduated from its private schools. 

#5. Los Altos Hills, CA (income: $405,073/ bailout: $4.2 million) – With a median home price of $3 million, the community is located just five miles from Silicon Valley. Notable residents include Google founder Sergey Brin and Russian billionaire and tech investor Yuri Milner, who paid $100 million for his home. 

#6. Short Hills, NJ (income: $388,760/ bailout: $6.5 million) – Founded in 1870 by the inventor of the roller shade, the community is a suburb of New York City. Notable residents include CEOs, actors, pro sports players, and authors.

#7. Highland Park TX (income: $365,025/ bailout: $4.5 million) – The richest town in Texas, the median home price is $1.5 million. It’s located five miles north of Dallas. Notable residents include the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, and the former governor of Texas, Bill Clements.

#8. Glencoe, IL (income: $358,543/ bailout: $4.4 million) – Situated on Lake Michigan and just north of Chicago, Glencoe is the richest town in Illinois. Notable people include Eric Lefkofsky, founder of Groupon, film critic Gene Siskel, and author Scott Turow. 

#9. Winnetka, IL (income: $353,700/ bailout: $6.1 million) – Located next to Glencoe, the village is home to many notable persons. Hollywood filmed in Winnetka including Home Alone, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Uncle Buck, National Lampoon Christmas, Risky Business, and Breakfast Club.

#10. Darien, CT (income: $352,839/ bailout: $10.7 million) – A storied East Coast community, notable residents included Charles Lindberg, Vineyard Vines CEO and founder Ian Murray, and many actors, politicians, and CEOs. The community has at least nine country clubs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected both high- and low-income communities, but it’s unclear why such wealthy neighborhoods need so much money to weather the storm. 

Should the American taxpayers from lower-income areas be subsidizing the lifestyles of the rich and famous? 

It might help to see how much your community received. So, we mapped $400 billion in HEROES Act monies that are allocated to 39,000 local governments. Just click a pin (by state) and scroll down to see the results rendered in alphabetical order in the chart beneath the map.

Background: In May, the Heroes Act passed the U.S. House, 208-199. Then, U.S. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) refused to call the bill. However, in the run up to the November election, President Donald Trump indicated he was open to a $2 trillion deal.