1. Hillsborough, Calif.
Population: 10,500Median household income: $263,456
Median home price: $2,606,764
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $11,023
The expression "if you have to ask how much, you probably can't afford it" aptly sums up the town of Hillsborough. And the leaders here plan to keep it that way. Homes in this northern California enclave can be no smaller than 2,500 feet and no lot is less than half an acre. Moreover, you can't have an apartment here no matter what you can afford - town regulations forbid them, along with condos and townhouses. Bing Crosby hung his fedora here, and Hearst heiress Patty, in her pre-SLA kidnapping days, grew up in Hillsborough.
2. Scarsdale, N.Y.
Population: 18,100Median household income: $219,317
Median home price: $1,522,918
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,404
This fashionable New York City suburb has been home to the very rich and famous for generations. A swank and quiet village, wealthy Manhattan rat racers commute home to Scarsdale to get away from it all, with its lush Butler Woods and exclusive Scarsdale Platform Tennis Club, the first of its kind in the world. Notable Scarsdalians include Liza Minnelli and mom Judy Garland, Beatles wives Linda McCartney and Yoko Ono and 19th century author James Fenimore Cooper.
3. Los Altos Hills, Calif.
Population: 7,700Median household income: $199,370
Median home price: $2,371,601
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,928
Tiny Los Altos is the quintessential bedroom community - in fact, the only business in town is a bookstore. This Silicon Valley rural oasis has some of the largest homes in the Bay Area - one home boasts 18,000 square feet of living space - and all dwellings must take up at least an acre of this most prime real estate. The 60-acre Packard orchard is among the natural splendors, but the best feature besides the ritzy homes and choke-a-horse bankrolls is the Pathway System, a 63-mile maze of trails that winds through the pristine town.
4. Winnetka, Ill.
Population: 12,200Median household income: $195,879
Median home price: $1,316,052
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,119
This Chicago suburb boasts one of the nation's most elite public schools, New Trier High School, as well as the type of quiet Midwestern living one would expect from your basic regal - and very Republican - village. Among the high end in the area's real estate market: A five-bedroom, six-bath little beauty can be all yours for just $4,175,000. Donald Rumsfeld and Rock Hudson both grew up in Winnetka.
5. Chappaqua, N.Y.
Population: 9,500Median household income: $189,741
Median home price: $1,048,354
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,303
Bill and Hill picked up their Old House Lane home in this fashionable suburb for a comparatively reasonable $1.7 million, and the Clintons, like their neighbors, enjoy the profound sense of history you can find everywhere in Chappaqua. Reader's Digest has its headquarters in this small hamlet that had always been known for its prominent farming trade. Nowadays, residents are typically white-collar types who send their kids to Horace Greeley High School and expect them to get accepted to the nation's most prestigious universities.
6. Glencoe, Ill.
Population: 8,800Median household income: $187,043
Median home price: $1,148,241
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,250
Another Chicago suburb, Tom Cruise made "Risky Business" here back in 1983 - well, the script said the family home was in Glencoe at least. Actually, the movie was filmed in nearby Highland Park. The creative juices flow aplenty around Glencoe, with such famous entertainers as Harold Ramis, Bruce Dern and Fred "Wonder Years" Savage calling it home. Palatial homes along the shores of Lake Michigan make Glencoe ideal "for a certain kind of dreamy kid," wrote author Rich Cohen.
7. Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara, Calif.
Population: 11,700Median household income: $185,354
Median home price: $1,324,762
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,899
This mouthful of a town name represents an exclusive village along the northern California coast that is basically a census-designated country club. Real estate is one of the biggest games in town and business is booming, thanks primarily to the Blackhawk Country Club, the largest of multiple gated communities that give Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara its exclusive feel.
8. Great Falls, Va.
Population: 8,900Median household income: $181,318
Median home price: $1,419,278
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,221
This historic Washington, D.C. suburb uses both its proximity to the nation's capital and fun attractions like Great Falls Park to lure the Beltway's top movers and shakers, a list that includes Ollie North and Mary Cheney, daughter of the vice president. Citizens Association members aggressively guard the town's character, making sure the community maintains its rural, low-density - and highbrow - nature.
9. Weston, Mass.
Population: 11,700Median household income: $180,549
Median home price: $1,384,268
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,315
Great schools, low crime and quaint cultural offerings attract local sports heroes like New England Patriots head coach Bill Bellichick, Boston Celtics legendary forward John Havlicek, and Boston Red Sox first baseman David Ortiz to this Boston suburb. Regis College is a well-kept secret of excellence in education in a prototype bedroom community just 10 miles from Beantown.
10. Travilah, Md.
Population: 8,300Median household income: $177,477
Median home price: $1,456,430
Amount spent on vacations/yr: $10,783
One of a collection of exclusive and unincorporated communities in the Potomac-Washington, D.C. area, Travilah is a haven for doctors, lawyers and the over-40 set tired of the Beltway hustle and bustle. About 3 of 4 residents here are married and hold a bachelor's degree or better.