If California’s home prices had physical weight, they’d tip the state into the Pacific Ocean. Among the 100 most expensive ZIP codes in the United States in 2023, 61 were found in the Golden State, according to a study by RealtyHop. New York was next, with 18 ZIP codes in the top 100. To compile the rankings, researchers analyzed more than 3.6 million active home listings from Jan. 1 to Oct. 15, using the median list price in each ZIP to identify the most expensive ones.
California actually gained two spots in the top 100, after notching 59 of them on the 2022 list. Atherton, Calif., (94027), a town near Palo Alto where residents recently opposed new housing developments, was the most expensive for the fourth year running, with a median list price of $7.95 million. On the municipal level, seven Los Angeles ZIP codes made the top 100, more than any other city. Newport Beach, Calif., just to the south, was next, with six ZIP codes on the list.
New York ZIP codes were lead by Sagaponack, N.Y. (11962), in the Hamptons, at a median of $6.29 million. In New York City, the 10013 ZIP (mostly TriBeCa), was priciest, at a median of about $3.6 million.
That beachfront communities on both coasts are expensive is no surprise, but what may be is just how expensive the homes in all 100 ZIP codes are. Median list prices ranged from the $7.95 million in Atherton to just shy of $2 million in the 100th most expensive ZIP, 90027, the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. Those and everything in between are unaffordable to a vast majority of the populace.
Over the course of the year, however, median prices at the top went down. While 61 ZIP codes had a median of more than $2.5 million in 2022, this year only 53 did. The overall median of the top 100 was also lower this year, dropping $152,000 from last year, to $2,597,500.
This week’s chart shows the country’s 25 most expensive ZIP codes and the median list price in each, according to RealtyHop.
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