Where Do Top-Earning Homeowners Live? Hint: Not in the Priciest Zip Codes

Back in December, we released our annual ranking of the most expensive zip codes in the US, and the median prices of those in the top 100 were probably quite shocking to the average person who has to live on an average income. As a follow-up to that story, we compiled a list of the wealthiest zip codes in the US based on median household income.

As it turns out, being able to afford the cost of an expensive home does not necessarily mean living in an area where the priciest homes are located. On the contrary, most of the nation’s 100 most expensive zip codes are on the West Coast, while most of the wealthiest 100 zip codes in the U.S. based on median household income are on the opposite Coast. Read on to find out more insights from our side-by-side analysis.

The East Coast dominates the list of high-earning zip codes

Of the nation’s top 100 earning zip codes, 70 are located on the East Coast. We’ve created a map that tracks zip codes by median income for owner households. Zooming in on the East Coast, there are two areas where most zip codes are clustered: the Northeast with 48 zip codes and the suburbs around the DC area with 28 spots in the top 100.

While the ranking of most expensive zip codes for housing was dominated by California with 77 spots on the list, the picture changed drastically when we looked for the top earning postal codes in the US. The Golden State takes 17 spots in the top 100 while New York leads the by-state ranking with 20 codes. Of those, 8 are located in Manhattan. Most of the other NY state zip codes all cover small and well-established communities in Westchester County.

Maryland and Connecticut trail New York and California, each claiming 10 spots in the ranking. New Jersey and Virginia follow, further strengthening the East’s dominance, due to the well-placed D.C. suburbs. The District of Columbia itself only managed to claim 1 spot in the ranking, way behind the wealthy communities around the US capital.

Unlike the list of priciest zip codes for home prices, the by-income scale is more heterogeneous, with 15 states taking spots on the list. Virginia, D.C., Delaware, Illinois, Texas, and Pennsylvania were all absent from the top 100 most expensive zip codes, but they are present in the homeowner income ranking.

Here’s where zip codes with $250k+ income stand in terms of home prices

The first 11 highest-earning zip codes all feature a yearly median household income of over $250,000. New York leads with 5 of the 11 zip codes that feature top-bracket median incomes, followed by California with 4 zip codes. Of the top 11 zip codes by median income, the highest ranked based on median sale price is 10013 in Manhattan, which took the 2nd spot.

On the other hand, San Diego’s 92145 did not even make the cut in the 100 priciest zips for housing, although the median income here exceeds $250,000. The median price here clocked in at $1,332,500, not enough to secure it a spot in the top 100. Furthermore, 2 of the 11 zip codes have median sale prices well below $1 million—Chappaqua’s 10514 and Chicago’s 60603. In zip code 60603, the median sale price recorded in 2017 was $495,000 and, with a median gross income of over $250,000, it stands out as the market with the smallest gap between median price and income.

Only 27 of the top most expensive zip codes for housing rank in the top-earning list

Of the zip codes that ranked among the 100 most expensive markets for home buyers in 2017, only 27 show up in the top 100 highest earning zip codes by median income. Atherton’s 94027–the most expensive zip code in the US–comes close to $250k in median household income, while the median price for a home here was just short of the $5-million-mark in 2017. Fisher Island’s 33109 came in 3rd based on median sale price, but it only took the 28th spot based on income.

Among the pricey zip codes missing from the ranking by income, the absence of vacation communities is quite noticeable. For example, the two Hamptons communities that found themselves among the 10 priciest housing markets have comparatively low median incomes and did not rank in the top 100 by income.

Owners in some of the wealthiest zip codes could pay off their homes with less than 3 years’ worth of income

In Chicago’s 60603 zip code, a home can be paid off by using only 2 years’ worth of income, but there are other communities where the gap between owner’s income and the median home sale price is almost as low. In Cross River, NY for example the median home price hit $410,000 in 2017 while the median homeowner income was just above $190k, meaning that – in theory – in a little over two years one could pay the median home price in full, if all income were dedicated to that.

Take a look at the complete top 100 highest earning zip codes in the US in the table below. We’ve also added a column with their ranking by median sale price, as well as a ratio of income to price which shows how many years it would take for homeowners in these zip codes to pay off their homes if all household income would be used towards that.

# By Income	Zip	# By Sale Price	Median Owner Household Income	Median Sale Price	Town	State	Ratio
1	10013	2	$250,000+	$4,100,000	New York	NY	16.4
2	10007	4	$250,000+	$3,988,683	New York	NY	16.0
3	94957	11	$250,000+	$2,987,500	Ross	CA	12.0
4	94028	13	$250,000+	$2,895,000	Portola Valley	CA	11.6
5	10282	17	$250,000+	$2,775,000	New York	NY	11.1
6	10006	24	$250,000+	$2,571,082	New York	NY	10.3
7	94305	33	$250,000+	$2,200,000	Stanford	CA	8.8
8	07078	93	$250,000+	$1,422,500	Short Hills	NJ	5.7
9	92145	127	$250,000+	$1,332,500	San Diego	CA	5.3
10	10514	468	$250,000+	$810,000	Chappaqua	NY	3.2
11	60603	1322	$250,000+	$495,000	Chicago	IL	2.0
12	94027	1	$248,438	$4,950,000	Atherton	CA	19.9
13	06878	78	$246,458	$1,507,500	Riverside	CT	6.1
14	22027	444	$242,772	$830,300	Dunn Loring	VA	3.4
15	06820	131	$241,292	$1,320,000	Darien	CT	5.5
16	92657	12	$240,804	$2,950,000	Newport Coast	CA	12.3
17	60043	224	$238,438	$1,095,600	Kenilworth	IL	4.6
18	10504	251	$231,346	$1,050,000	Armonk	NY	4.5
19	77005	373	$230,893	$886,100	Houston	TX	3.8
20	20015	316	$230,714	$932,700	Washington	DC	4.0
21	22066	249	$223,158	$1,050,000	Great Falls	VA	4.7
22	10597	504	$222,917	$792,000	Waccabuc	NY	3.6
23	06883	553	$222,563	$759,500	Weston	CT	3.4
24	07931	165	$222,014	$1,235,000	Far Hills	NJ	5.6
25	06840	159	$219,722	$1,249,000	New Canaan	CT	5.7
26	75225	346	$218,669	$905,100	Dallas	TX	4.1
27	02462	278	$217,727	$990,750	Newton Lower Falls	MA	4.6
28	33109	3	$214,097	$4,052,500	Miami Beach	FL	18.9
29	94022	8	$213,277	$3,200,000	Los Altos	CA	15.0
30	94301	7	$212,841	$3,300,000	Palo Alto	CA	15.5
31	11724	140	$211,786	$1,297,500	Cold Spring Harbor	NY	6.1
32	19437	1149	$211,442	$533,200	Gwynedd Valley	PA	2.5
33	07043	624	$211,250	$725,000	Montclair	NJ	3.4
34	02493	125	$210,743	$1,336,250	Weston	MA	6.3
35	07934	788	$210,250	$645,000	Gladstone	NJ	3.1
36	20816	321	$210,167	$927,500	Bethesda	MD	4.4
37	94105	250	$209,736	$1,050,000	San Francisco	CA	5.0
38	75205	243	$208,614	$1,059,600	Dallas	TX	5.1
39	19807	1161	$208,393	$528,450	Wilmington	DE	2.5
40	94024	14	$208,292	$2,875,000	Los Altos	CA	13.8
41	20854	345	$207,287	$908,250	Potomac	MD	4.4
42	19085	363	$207,031	$900,000	Villanova	PA	4.3
43	10024	85	$206,781	$1,454,000	New York	NY	7.0
44	19035	445	$206,324	$830,000	Gladwyne	PA	4.0
45	22101	248	$206,012	$1,050,000	Mc Lean	VA	5.1
46	95030	31	$205,541	$2,211,250	Los Gatos	CA	10.8
47	06903	760	$205,417	$660,000	Stamford	CT	3.2
48	77401	539	$205,108	$768,800	Bellaire	TX	3.7
49	10580	48	$205,076	$1,790,000	Rye	NY	8.7
50	06880	198	$204,962	$1,150,000	Westport	CT	5.6
51	22182	483	$204,955	$800,000	Vienna	VA	3.9
52	21738	693	$204,915	$694,500	Glenwood	MD	3.4
53	06870	120	$204,550	$1,350,000	Old Greenwich	CT	6.6
54	22039	585	$204,392	$747,000	Fairfax Station	VA	3.7
55	10577	167	$204,219	$1,225,000	Purchase	NY	6.0
56	02481	97	$204,129	$1,390,000	Wellesley Hills	MA	6.8
57	10506	449	$204,079	$825,000	Bedford	NY	4.0
58	06853	181	$204,028	$1,180,000	Norwalk	CT	5.8
59	20868	559	$204,007	$755,800	Spencerville	MD	3.7
60	08550	893	$203,846	$605,000	Princeton Junction	NJ	3.0
61	90402	6	$202,857	$3,512,500	Santa Monica	CA	17.3
62	10021	280	$201,274	$990,000	New York	NY	4.9
63	94528	20	$200,972	$2,618,750	Diablo	CA	13.0
64	02030	233	$200,962	$1,081,250	Dover	MA	5.4
65	76092	952	$200,750	$586,900	Southlake	TX	2.9
66	19066	686	$200,729	$699,500	Merion Station	PA	3.5
67	20817	404	$199,925	$860,545	Bethesda	MD	4.3
68	10280	527	$199,737	$776,217	New York	NY	3.9
69	20815	252	$199,516	$1,050,000	Chevy Chase	MD	5.3
70	02468	128	$199,500	$1,325,000	Waban	MA	6.6
71	11797	526	$198,875	$776,938	Woodbury	NY	3.9
72	60521	563	$198,704	$755,000	Hinsdale	IL	3.8
73	10583	184	$198,448	$1,173,050	Scarsdale	NY	5.9
74	06897	675	$198,259	$701,250	Wilton	CT	3.5
75	07028	719	$198,125	$679,000	Glen Ridge	NJ	3.4
76	90077	38	$196,667	$2,068,437	Los Angeles	CA	10.5
77	60045	791	$196,477	$644,000	Lake Forest	IL	3.3
78	10576	448	$195,592	$825,000	Pound Ridge	NY	4.2
79	15142	766	$194,875	$655,900	Presto	PA	3.4
80	22060	1082	$194,875	$549,000	Fort Belvoir	VA	2.8
81	60022	327	$194,609	$922,500	Glencoe	IL	4.7
82	08502	808	$194,306	$635,350	Belle Mead	NJ	3.3
83	22205	554	$194,250	$758,800	Arlington	VA	3.9
84	10538	132	$194,115	$1,315,000	Larchmont	NY	6.8
85	21794	685	$193,938	$700,000	West Friendship	MD	3.6
86	21737	508	$193,250	$790,000	Glenelg	MD	4.1
87	22207	384	$193,219	$875,800	Arlington	VA	4.5
88	90272	19	$192,922	$2,730,000	Pacific Palisades	CA	14.2
89	10518	1795	$191,657	$410,000	Cross River	NY	2.1
90	20861	805	$191,058	$638,495	Ashton	MD	3.3
91	98039	22	$190,750	$2,590,000	Medina	WA	13.6
92	30327	618	$190,732	$726,000	Atlanta	GA	3.8
93	06830	89	$189,107	$1,445,000	Greenwich	CT	7.6
94	21029	623	$188,286	$725,000	Clarksville	MD	3.9
95	07450	666	$188,228	$705,500	Ridgewood	NJ	3.7
96	94920	25	$187,554	$2,550,000	Belvedere Tiburon	CA	13.6
97	94010	28	$186,646	$2,400,000	Burlingame	CA	12.9
98	20129	518	$186,333	$780,300	Paeonian Springs	VA	4.2
99	78730	794	$186,103	$641,200	Austin	TX	3.4
100	10502	619	$186,042	$725,625	Ardsley	NY	3.9

Methodology

The top 100 highest-earning zip codes based on owner household income was compiled based on ACS income data for 2016.

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. Median sale prices for Texas zip codes were sourced from Census data. The towns and cities assigned to zip codes are based on USPS definitions.