Howard County ranked among the highest-earning counties in the nation, and easily outstripped other counties in the Baltimore region in household income, according to 2005 census estimates released Tuesday.

With its median household income of $91,184, Howard ranked just behind the Northern Virginia suburbs of Loudoun and Fairfax counties, and well above Maryland?s statewide median of $61,592. Out of the county?s estimated 96,428 households, 44.5 percent had an income of $100,000 or more.