I dont understand how the OA is "E".......

Personally i think the OA should be "B". "D" in my mind is wrong for all the reasons that SigEpUIC explained.

We know nothing about the either "distribution of the salary (no. of people with a certain salary range" or the "the # of people in a particular county....Therefore all theories on "avg. salaries" or "the # of people with a certain salary is wrong. Because for any statistics that are calculated to prove that C, D are correct, i think there is another set of # that will disprove C,D.

I'm just struggling with the OA....When i first solved this question i didnt give "E' even a thought.

I say A- what is OA?

My feeling is that if the answer key says anything but B, the key is wrong. The answer can only be B.
I have written the problem out again. I will try to accept each answer as true, and see where we get. Let us say, for the first few answer choices, that the number of people in Merton is 1000, and the number of people in Sommer is 10.
Given:
The percentage of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is higher in Merton county than in any other county. However, the percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more is highest in Sommer County.

If the statements above are true, which of the following can properly be concluded on the basis of them?

A) No household in Merton county has an annual income of $60,000 or more.
Let's say that Merton has 30% (300 people) earning higher than 40K, with one person (0.1%) earning 62K. To justify the original premise, 10% (1 person) of Sommer has incomes over 60K. So A is out.
B) Some households in Merton county have an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000.
There is no way around this. Even if some people have more than $60,000, it cannot be that no one has between 40-60K.
C) The number of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton than in Sommer County
In the above case, this is true. Let's see if we can find numbers that defeat this premise:
Let's take: 100 in Summer, 30% over 60K (30 people); 10 in Merton, 40% over 40K (4 people).
D) Average annual household income is higher in Sommer than in Merton County
Take the new numbers from C) above.
It's possible to say that all the rest have 0 income (70x0 + 30X60)/100 = 18K; Merton take 6 people with 35K and the 4 above at 45K. No computing, Merton is higher.
E) The percentage of households with an annual income of $80,000 is higher in Sommer than in Merton County.
No information.
Leanna

I will go with C

It cannot be B since the HH income more than $40,000 is higher in Merton County, so there has to be More HHs and not some HHs.

Eg:
Merton County(in Thousands): 10, 20, 30, 40, 40, 45, 50, 55, 50, 70;
% of HHs > 40,000 is 70%
% of HHs > 60,000 is 10%
Average: 41
Sommer County (in Thousands): 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 70, 80
% of HHs > 40,000 is 40%
% of HHs > 60,000 is 20%
Average: 37

Picked B.

HMTG.

It is definately not (C)
Suppose:
Population of M county is 10 people
Population of S county is 100 people
In county M there are 9 people who earn more than 40K - 90%
In county S there are 80 people who earn more than 40K - 80% of which 40 people earn more than 60K - 40%.
80>8. I hope, that would help.

the answer is (B)
This is rather good question, but the answer is too simple and promitive.

B. Some households in Merton county have an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000.

As far as I can remember, this question was discussed before.. I don't remember the OA but now I am going with

^ B ^

A – extreme wording
B – yes, can be concluded.
C – absolute numbers are not discussed, just the percentages.
D – cannot be concluded from the info given.
E – Out of scope.

Answer, B.

One more for B.