Scottsdale's wealthiest areas might surprise you

• Scottsdale's wealthist people live between Shea Boulevard and Cactus Road
• Arabian Green is a mixed neighborhood of large properties%2C many of them with horses
• Ancala and Scottsdale Mountain%2C along Via Linda between Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and 136th Street%2C also is at top of list

Scottsdale is a prosperous place. Only Paradise Valley in the entire metro Phoenix area has a higher median income.

Some of the places where the wealthiest people live are expected. They are north of Bell Road, in some cases pretty far north. Areas such as the Boulders, DC Ranch and Pinnacle Peak come to mind, although almost everywhere in town north of Camelback Road would make lists of wealthiest neighborhoods elsewhere.

The farther north you go in Scottsdale, the wealthier it would seem to get in terms of household incomes.

Or does it?

A surprise: The two places with median incomes above $200,000, meaning an equal number of people fall above and below that income, are actually the city's southernmost "wealthiest" places. The incomes are based on U.S. census data.

One of them is truly surprising: Arabian Green, a neighborhood of old homes, new homes, horse properties, even an animal rehabilitation facility. Some of the homes are what you might expect in a wealthy area, others are 50 years old and not exactly mansions.

The neighborhood is on the southwestern corner of Scottsdale and Cactus roads, where the city goes as far west as 60th Street.

So the wealthiest people do not always live in the fanciest houses, it would appear. Nor is Arabian Green completely behind gates, possibly the only neighborhood on the list that does not keep outsiders out.

Like another area further down on the list, this is an area of horse properties. An equestrian path runs along Cactus Road, west of Scottsdale Road, on the north side of the neighborhood. Many of the lots are bigger than 2 acres.

Megan Mosby, executive director of Liberty Wildlife, which has operated in the area since 1981 rehabilitating wild animals and returning them to the wild, says the neighborhood "is definitely changing."

One of the things that will change is that Liberty will leave the area, possibly by this time next year. The wildlife rehabilitation center is moving to an area along the Salt River south of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Currently it is operating out of the founder's property, but "we're no longer a backyard rehab," Mosby said.

The other spot with a median income exceeding $200,000 runs from Ancala, a country club development on the north side of Via Linda, east of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, and east through Scottsdale Mountain, on the south slopes of the McDowell Mountains north of Shea Boulevard. This is an area more typical of developments farther north, with many of the homes built since 1990, complete with untouched desert landscapes and fabulous views.

In the next tier of wealthy neighborhoods comes DC Ranch's Country Club area. The data runs through 2012, too soon to include DC Ranch's Silverleaf section, which in a year or two might end up being the single richest neighborhood. Dozens of multimillion-dollar homes have been constructed in the area.

The other developments with incomes in the range of $175,000 to $200,000 are south of Shea Boulevard and east of 112th Street. This is a historical Arabian horse area, with breeding farms that appear to be high-dollar affairs. Horse barns in the neighborhood look nicer than many homes, and Stonegate Equestrian Park is in the area.

With median incomes of $150,000 to $175,000 are the remainder of DC Ranch, along Thompson Peak Parkway, and three separate sections in the Pinnacle Peak area: the section that includes the Four Seasons Resort, mostly north of the mountain; a portion east of Alma School Parkway where the golf community Troon is situated; and farther west, the land that includes Desert Highlands.

Farther north is an area east of Boulders Resort that is in the same category. It is lightly developed, but Ryland Homes is building the Baraca Estates there.

That makes nine wealthy locations, but surely not all the places where wealthy people live. More than a dozen locations fall just below the $150,000 line. Most of these are east of Pima Road in the area of the Mayo Clinic on Shea Boulevard, and farther north along Pima, including McDowell Mountain Ranch, Grayhawk, and Desert Highlands.