What Are the Most Expensive ZIP Codes?

Beverly Hills or Malibu? Greenwich or the Hamptons? Can you guess the most expensive ZIP codes in the U.S.?You might think you’ve heard of all the ritziest neighborhoods, but you could be in for a surprise. Lesser-known areas might not get all the glamor and prestige, but homes there can still fetch a hefty sale price. Real estate data provider Property Shark compiles an annual list of the most expensive ZIP codes in the U.S., calculated using median sale prices of sold homes (not asking prices). This methodology factors in market dynamics, what the company calls “transactional reality on the ground.” So what are the priciest ZIP codes?

The winner is...

Atherton, California, a Silicon Valley suburb, has the distinction of being the most expensive area in the country, with a median home price of $7 million.The 94027 ZIP took home the honors for the fourth year in a row, beating out the Hamptons village of Sagaponack, New York, which came in second, with a median home value of $3.88 million. California once again dominated the list: The Golden State has 87 of the top 100 most expensive ZIP codes in the country. Fifty of those ZIP codes are in the Bay Area, with San Francisco alone hosting 11 of them.The only other state with more than five ZIP codes in the top 100 was New York (20), and only 11 states in total had even a single ZIP on the list.

Trends of expensive ZIP codes

What do the most expensive ZIP codes in the country all have in common? Here are a few of the trends we noticed.

Cities are great, but city-adjacent is better

San Francisco had the most entries on the list of any city, but it didn’t claim any in the top 10, even though the most expensive ZIP code sits in the city’s affluent outskirts.We see a similar trend in New York — no NYC ZIP codes made the top 10 for the first time in the list’s history, while the second-most expensive ZIP lies in relative proximity, on Long Island.The most expensive ZIP codes in the Los Angeles area are in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills, tied for third overall, with a median home price of $3.75 million.

You can’t put a price on the weather!

It can’t be overstated how much this list was dominated by the state of California, with arguably some of the most pleasant weather in the nation. California had 87 of the 121 entries on the list (ties brought the total number over 100) and eight of the top 10.For the first time in five years, the exclusive New York City neighborhood of TriBeCa didn’t make the top 10, with its 10007 ZIP code falling just outside at number 11.

There were more gains than drops, but drops were sharper

Of the neighborhoods that made this year’s list, 78 of them were trending up, with 28 of those experiencing double-digit gains — a median increase of 10% or more. Of the 27 entries that experienced declines, 12 experienced double-digit drops.New York City saw both the sharpest gain — in the Upper West Side, where the median rose 42% — and the sharpest drop, as median home prices in the Garment District fell 38%.

Coasts beat mountains and desert

Other than one entry in the state of Washington (Medina’s 98039) and one in Florida (Miami Beach’s 33109), the only ZIP codes on the list outside of California and the Northeast were in Arizona and Nevada.The Lake Tahoe community of Glenbrook, Nevada, came in at #35 on the list with its 89413 ZIP code logging a median home price of $2.17 million. Paradise Valley, Arizona, made its debut on the list last year. The 85253 ZIP code climbed to #89, with a median home value of $1.54 million.

The big three: San Francisco, New York and LA

It’s no secret that the country’s biggest cities and the most affluent neighborhoods are on the coasts, with 103 of the 121 most expensive ZIP codes in the metro areas of San Francisco (11), New York (10) and Los Angeles (7).

An option for pricey ZIP codes

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Check out the most expensive ZIP codes across the US