Top Most Expensive US Zip Codes in 2017

Ranking the priciest zip codes in the US based on closed home sales

It’s December which means it’s time for our annual report on the 100 most expensive zip codes in the United States. We consider our report to be the most accurate benchmark of the country’s most exclusive areas as we are the only publisher who is analyzing closed sales prices and not asking prices. This allows us to avoid presenting inflated prices that are the result of luxury listings lingering longer on the market and which are frequently the subject of hefty price cuts. Conversely, in some highly competitive markets like Silicon Valley and San Francisco where bidding wars are the norm, average asking prices may be lower than what people end up paying to own a coveted piece of real estate.

Sagaponack’s 11962 loses its title as the priciest zip code, slides to 15^th spot

After winning the title of most expensive zip code in the US two years in a row, Sagaponack’s 11962 lost to Atherton in 2017. The exclusive Hamptons community dropped all the way to 15th position, mainly due to more sales recorded at lower price points, which slashed its median sale price in half. In 2017, Sagaponack’s median sale price was $2,819,000, while the barrier for entry in the top 10 is $3 million.

Sagaponack was also outranked by two neighboring zip codes – 11976 in Water Mill and 11975 in Wainscott, which broke into the top 10 in 2017, each climbing 7 spots from last year and reshuffling the top 10 as the only new entries.

With Sagaponack out of the picture, the top 3 positions are now claimed by zip codes from three different states: California, New York, and Florida. The nation’s priciest zip codes feature very different housing markets: Atherton’s 94027 is the playground of the richest people in Silicon Valley, New York’s 10013 covers TriBeCa with its luxury condo developments, while 33109 in Fisher Island is a small, secluded island community.

California is the state with most zip codes in the list, San Francisco leads for cities

Just as it did last year, California claims the highest number of zip codes in the top – 77.  The Golden State is followed by New York, which features 19 zip codes in our ranking. Besides California, New York, and Florida, 8 other states managed to break into the top. Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey each have 2 zip codes featured while Colorado, Nevada, Maryland, and Hawaii rank with 1 zip code each.

At city level, San Francisco leads the way with 9 zip codes present in the top 100 – however, the highest-ranking San Francisco zip code, 94118, only comes in at no.42. Zooming out to county level, Los Angeles County wins, ranking with 18 zip codes. It is followed by Santa Clara with 15 zip codes, which is rather unsurprising given the sky high levels prices have reached in Silicon Valley. When adding San Mateo County to the mix, Silicon Valley has 25 zip codes in the top, while the entire Bay Area claims a total of 45 zip codes among the nation’s priciest.

Check out the complete breakdown in the table below and the ranking for 2016 here.

Methodology: In order to determine which were the most expensive ZIP codes in the U.S., we looked at all residential transactions closed in 2017, taking into account condo, co-ops, single- and two-family homes. All package deals were excluded.