With questions like this, there isn't a whole lot of analysis to be done up front. As always, we have to make sure that we are paying attention to the details and that we understand the given facts. However, we don't have a conclusion or a line of reasoning that we can break down. So let's just make sure we are clear about the given information:

• "The percentage of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is higher in Merton County (MC) than in any other county." Note that we don't know about the NUMBER of households. Also notice that it says "more than $40,000", so this group does not contain households with an annual income equal to $40,000.
• "The percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more is higher in Sommer County (SC)." Again, we are dealing with percentages and not absolute numbers. However, in this case, the group includes the boundary figure ("$60,000 or more").

If the statements above are true, which of the following must also be true?


MC might have, for example, 2% earning $80k+ while SC only has 1% (or less!) earning $80k+. As long as SC has a higher percentage with an annual income between $60k and $80k, SC could still have a higher percentage earning $60k+. Choice (A) does not have to be true, so eliminate this one.


There could be a third county that has a higher percentage earning $60k than MC. As we'll see in the explanation for choice (C), this would not necessarily mean that the third county has a higher percentage earning above $40k than MC. Choice (B) might be true, but it does not have to be true. Eliminate (B).


Let's think about this logically. MC has the highest percentage above $40k. SC has the highest percentage of $60k or more. So how could that be true? Let's start by ignoring the group earning between $40-60k. We know that the percentage earning $60k or more in MC is lower than the percentage earning $60k or more in SC. So if we omit the group earning between $40-60k, it would look like SC has a greater percentage earning above $40k. But we know that the opposite is true: the percentage earning above $40k is higher in MC than in SC.

So how can we make the $40k+ percentage higher in MC without changing the fact that the $60k+ percentage is higher in SC? The only option is to make the $40-60k percentage higher in MC. In other words, if the $40k percentage is higher in MC even though the $60k percentage is LOWER in MC, then the percentage BETWEEN $40k and $60k must be higher in MC. In that case, the statement in choice (C) would have to be true, so hang on to this one.


The given facts pertain to percentages, not absolute numbers. SC might have a much greater population than MC, in which case choice (D) might not be true. Eliminate (D).


This might be true, but it depends on information that we are not given. SC might have a small percentage earning above $60k while MC has NO households earning above $60k. But MC might have a much larger percentage earning $40-60k. Furthermore, SC could have a much larger percentage earning less than, say, $20k, and that would drag down the overall average. We do not have enough information to determine whether (E) is true, so eliminate this one.

(C) is the best answer.
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Answer is B.

Merlon has highest %>40

Summer has highest %> 60

If everyone in Merlon who made over 40,000 also made over 60,000, then Merlon would have the highest %> 60. Hence at least 1 person in Merlon must make between 40 and 60.

I am tempted to choose D. Let me explain.

Going by general fundamentals on avgs's we know that when it comes to weighted avg's the avg inclines itself towards that number whose weight is more. So the avg income in Somer county is more that in Merton county.

Let me elaborate with some numbers.

Merton county - majortiy if >40k income (Say 45k). Lets assume 100 people and 60 people with >40k income. The remaining would be less than 40k (say 35k).

Avg = (60*45 + 40*35)/100 = 41k (closer to 40k than 35k)

For Sommer country - going by the same logic and similar no.s, we have

Avg = (60*65 + 40*55)/100 = 61k (closer to 60k)

So D.

I chose D. The OG says the answer is C and states that it can be inferred.

The reason I chose D was that the stem clearly states that the number of households with an annual income of more than $40k is higher in MC than in any other county.

D essentially restates the argument that MC has greatest number of households with with an annual income of more than $40k. I took this to mean that SC was considered to be "any of the other counties" and therefore could NOT have more people with an larger annual income above $40k.

Where did I go wrong???

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.
B. Some households in Merton county have an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000.
C. The number of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton than in Sommer county.
D. Average annual household income is higher in Sommer than in Merton county.
E. The percentage of households with an annual income of $80,000 is higher in Sommer than in Merton county.

Hi, I added this as previous posts don't have OA.
Can anyone explain why A is wrong, please.

everyone is saying the answer is B but when i marked B as my answer the system gave C as the right one.
Can anyone check on this

FACT 1 : The percentage of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is higher in Merton County than in any other county.

FACT 2 : The percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more is higher in Sommer County.

Pre Thinking : For the households to have the highest percentage above 40,000 such that Sommer county also has the highest above 60,000, there needs to be some households between 40k-60k.

A) The percentage of households with an annual income of $80,000 is higher is Sommer County than in Merton County. --> We are not sure if we do have 80k income households or not in any of the counties.
B) Merton county has the second highest percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more. --> Again, there could be another county that is after Sommer city while Merton could have none of the households with annual income >60k.
C) Some households is Merton county have an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000 --> AS per our Pre thinking. Hence Correct Answer.
D) The number of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton county than in Sommer County. --> We are talking about the percentages and not the actual numbers.
E) Average annual household income is higher in Sommer County than in Merton County. --> Same as D above.
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There are two facts mentioned in the argument:-
1) M has higher % of houses with income more than 40,000
2) S has higher % of houses with income more than 60,000

Possible assumptions:-
1) % of houses with income between 40,000-6000 is higher in M than in S
2) Some people in M have income between 40,000-60,000
3) M does not have higher % of people earning more than 60,000

A) The percentage of households with an annual income of $80,000 is higher is Sommer County than in Merton County. We are not given any data of income above 80,000.

B) Merton county has the second highest percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more. We only know that M has higher % people earning >60,000

C) Some households is Merton county have an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000. Correct choice.

D) The number of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton county than in Sommer County. % does not translate to number.

E) Average annual household income is higher in Sommer County than in Merton County. We can't conclude that.
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(A) The percentage of households with an annual income of $80,000 is higher in Sommer County than in Merton County. - We can't be sure about it. Maybe, Merton County has more people with annual income greater than $80,000, considering that >$40000 includes all such incomes.
(B) Merton County has the second highest percentage of households with an annual income of $60,000 or more. - We don't have enough information to conclude that. What about the data of other counties?
(C) Some households in Merton County have an annual income between $40,000 and $60,000. - This could be true. Maybe, Merton County has many individuals with annual incomes between $40000 and $60000 and therefore, it cannot exceed the annual income of Sommer County.
(D) The number of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton County than in Sommer County. - From the evidence cited above, this could not be concluded with surety. Maybe, greater percentage of households in Sommer County have annual income less than $40,000
(E) Average annual household income is higher in Sommer County than in Merton County. - We can't conclude this. If 70% households in Merton County have incomes greater than $40,000, while only 15% households have income greater than $60,000, we could have an exception. Additionally, we don't have any info on sample size of both counties. Thus, inconclusive.

Thus, C is the answer.
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Hi Payal,

In case choice D had % instead of absolute values, could this be the correct answer choice?

Then the choice D would read - "The percentage of households with an annual income of more than $40,000 is greater in Merton County than in Sommer County."

In that case, I think D should be the better answer choice than C. What you think?

Your response will be appreciated.

Jay