The largest concentration of wealthy individuals in the United States is in New York City according to Henley & Partners 2024 wealth report. But, hot on its heels is the Bay Area which added almost 2 new millionaires for every one the Big Apple gained over the last decade.
Currently though, the area that gave birth to so many tech companies has a slight edge over its East Coast counterpart in the number of billionaires with 68 compared to just 60. Many of these extremely wealthy individuals live in and around Silicon Valley, in the southwestern part of the Bay Area, with a number of them in one small community making it the richest town in the US.
The richest town in the USA is one hour from San Francisco: the median home price is $7.9M
Roughly equidistant between San Francisco to the north and San Jose to the south is the town of Atherton, California. While the average household income in the roughly 5-square-mile town is $594,651, it is also home to the likes of tech moguls Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook and Google’s Eric Schmidt and NBA stars such as Golden State’s Steph Curry, among other extremely wealthy individuals.
Called “Silicon Valley’s poshest town” by the New York Times, it has topped Property Shark’s list of most expensive zip codes for the past eight years. While the average home value in Atherton, according to Zillow, is $7.54 million, in the 94027 zip code the median sale price was $7.9 million. However, Property Shark noted that that was a slight decrease of 5%, or $400,000, from the year before.
It’s not just the deep pockets of its roughly 6,700 residents, nor the closeness of its location to where their businesses are that makes this enclave so expensive, but also its zoning laws. The town has no commercial areas or multifamily homes, and lacks sidewalks, although there is a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan that was adopted back in 2015.
Instead, this community is known not just for its lavish single-family homes but also the large, private lots they sit on with lush vegetation. The latter is protected by a Heritage Tree Ordinance which regulates tree removal.
The effect of this policy of low-density housing and maintaining its trees is evident from space. The town sticks out on Google Maps satellite view even without the borders indicated as it is noticeably greener than the cities surrounding it.
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