A bump-up in median income and home values makes Silicon Valley once again the wealthiest region in the nation.

Median income in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area jumped from $85,736 in 2011 to $90,737 last year, beating out Washington D.C. as the richest population center. With nearly 1.9 million people, Silicon Valley holds the 32nd highest population density in the U.S. and the 28th lowest poverty rate (10.8 percent).

The new ranking comes from 24/7 Wall St., which used the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to track highest and lowest median income. California claims four of the top 10 richest regions: Napa, Oxnard, San Francisco and San Jose.

Analysts credit the San Jose region’s wealth to the abundance of tech and professional services jobs. One of the main determinants in affluent communities is the range of jobs available in skilled manufacturing, tech and finance, according to Brookings Institution. Rich cities, obviously, have more of them.

Nationwide, nearly 11 percent of the population works in professional service or in management. In Silicon Valley, it’s nearly double that percentage.

San Jose’s wealth is coupled with a competitive housing market, one of the most sought-after in the U.S., with just a 3.6 percent vacancy rate (down from a recessionary peak of 4.9 percent in 2008). Median home values reached $624,200. One-fifth of the region’s homes are worth $1 million or more. And median gross rent topped $1,560 in 2012, more than anywhere else in the country.

But, as the rich get richer, the poor are getting pushed out by rising rents and the overall jacked-up cost of living. The number of food stamp recipients reached a decade high, according to the yearly Silicon Valley Index. And homelessness shot up 20 percent in two years.

There is one way for the local less fortunate to feel richer, Cornell University public policy professor Richard Burkhauser explains: Leave.

“It’s certainly true that if you don’t move around, your chance of getting out of poverty is much tougher than if you move,” he tells 24/7 Wall St.

That’s one way to secure a lead in the wealthiest city rankings—just price out the poor.