Dakota suburbs: Who leads in income, cars, big homes?

Farmington is tops in picket-fence suburban families. Hastings leads in cohabitation.

Eagan has the most educated populace. Lakeville is king of McMansions, with lots of cars per family.

These are among the findings, for the larger Dakota County cities, of the latest round of U.S. Census population surveys.

The findings in differing categories underscore the need for multiple vantage points in evaluating where a suburb stands compared to its peers.

Case in point: Farmington, which ranks second from the top in median household income, thanks no doubt to two-income families. But it's second from the bottom in truly affluent families — those earning $200,000 and up, who can afford to live closer in.

The period covered is three years, from 2010 to 2012, and there are margins of error; any figures that are quite close together are effectively the same.

Here are some of the findings:

Lakeville37.8%

Rosemount35.2%

Eagan25.0%

Apple Valley23.7%

Hastings20.8%

I.G. Heights18.1%

S.St. Paul15.3%

Farmington32.5%

Rosemount31.6%

Lakeville30.9%

Apple Valley25.4%

Hastings24.3%

I.G. Heights24.0%

Burnsville23.0%

S.St. Paul22.5%

Apple Valley45.5%

Lakeville45.3%

Rosemount39.6%

Burnsville34.5%

Farmington33.6%

Hastings26.1%

S.St. Paul22.6%

Eagan12.0%

Lakeville10.7%

Apple Valley8.1%

I.G. Heights6.4%

Hastings5.8%

Burnsville5.3%

Farmington2.0%

S.St. Paul1.1%

Lakeville45.5%

Rosemount45.0%

Apple Valley43.4%

Farmington43.4%

I.G. Heights37.7%

Hastings31.7%

S.St. Paul28.3%

Lakeville$91,827

Farmington86,309

Rosemount83,142

Apple Valley74,635

Hastings63,791

I.G. Heights61,729

Burnsville60,806

S.St. Paul55,362

Rosemount26.7%

Eagan25.5%

Apple Valley23.3%

Burnsville19.7%

Farmington19.4%

I.G. Heights15.5%

S.St. Paul10.6%

Lakeville25.0%

Farmington23.0%

Eagan19.5%

Apple Valley18.6%

Burnsville18.3%

I.G. Heights18.1%

Rosemount18.0%

S.St. Paul14.2%