Key Takeaways
- The Bay Area peninsula leads. Palo Alto (94301/94304) and Atherton top California at about $1.6M average income โ the heart of Silicon Valley tech wealth.
- It's remarkably concentrated. Most of California's richest ZIPs sit within ~30 miles of each other: Palo Alto, Atherton, Los Altos, Portola Valley, Belvedere/Tiburon and San Francisco.
- SoCal's pockets. Southern California's wealth clusters in Los Angeles enclaves โ Beverly Hills, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Encino โ plus Montecito and Corona del Mar on the coast.
- Mean, not median. Ranked by average income (skewed upward by top earners). On typical household income the same Bay Area towns still dominate.
California’s highest earners are concentrated to a striking degree. Using IRS average-income data by ZIP code, the wealthiest postcodes in the state cluster overwhelmingly on the San Francisco peninsula โ the engine room of Silicon Valley โ with a second cluster in a few Los Angeles and coastal enclaves. Here is where the money lives.
Where California’s highest earners live, mapped
Ranked: California’s top ZIP codes
The peninsula dominates. Palo Alto, home to Stanford and a dense concentration of venture-backed founders and executives, leads the state, with neighbouring Atherton โ long the most expensive town in America by home price โ close behind. Los Altos, Portola Valley and Belvedere/Tiburon fill out a Bay Area top tier. In the south, the wealth is more scattered: Century City and Beverly Hills anchor a Los Angeles cluster, with Montecito (near Santa Barbara) and Corona del Mar on the coast.
Full list: California’s richest ZIP codes
| # | Place | ZIP | Avg. income (AGI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Alto, CA | 94301 | $1.64M |
| 2 | Palo Alto (Stanford), CA | 94304 | $1.60M |
| 3 | Atherton, CA | 94027 | $1.59M |
| 4 | Century City, LA | 90067 | $1.27M |
| 5 | Portola Valley, CA | 94028 | $981k |
| 6 | San Francisco, CA | 94104 | $900k |
| 7 | Belvedere/Tiburon, CA | 94920 | $866k |
| 8 | Los Altos, CA | 94022 | $840k |
| 9 | Montecito, CA | 93108 | $763k |
| 10 | Pacific Palisades, CA | 90272 | $707k |
| 11 | Bradbury, CA | 91008 | $699k |
| 12 | Santa Monica, CA | 90402 | $665k |
| 13 | Beverly Hills, CA | 90210 | $665k |
| 14 | Encino, CA | 91436 | $646k |
| 15 | Corona del Mar, CA | 92625 | $623k |
| 16 | ZIP 92657, CA | 92657 | $619k |
| 17 | ZIP 94024, CA | 94024 | $612k |
| 18 | ZIP 90077, CA | 90077 | $599k |
| 19 | ZIP 95030, CA | 95030 | $596k |
| 20 | ZIP 94111, CA | 94111 | $549k |
A closer look: California’s wealthiest enclaves
Palo Alto (94301) โ $1.6M
The civic heart of Silicon Valley, next to Stanford and regarded as the birthplace of the tech industry (the HP Garage here is its origin point). Home to founders, venture capitalists and executives โ including Mark Zuckerberg’s longtime Crescent Park home โ where startup equity dwarfs ordinary salaries.
Palo Alto / Stanford (94304) โ $1.6M
The Stanford University area and Stanford Research Park, ringed by the venture-capital firms of nearby Sand Hill Road โ academic prestige fused with the Valley’s deepest pools of money.
Atherton (94027) โ $1.6M
For years the most expensive town in America by home price: a quiet, heavily wooded enclave of gated estates between Palo Alto and Menlo Park, home to tech leaders (reportedly Google’s Eric Schmidt) and a great deal of understated wealth.
Century City (90067) โ $1.3M
A cluster of luxury high-rise towers on the former 20th Century Fox backlot in West Los Angeles โ entertainment executives, agents and finance, with some of the city’s priciest condominiums.
Portola Valley (94028) โ $981k
A rural-feeling town in the wooded hills above Silicon Valley, with strict low-density zoning โ a quiet retreat for the venture capitalists and tech executives who work down the hill.
San Francisco (Financial District) (94104) โ $900k
The downtown core of San Francisco. This ZIP’s sky-high average reflects the bankers, lawyers and corporate executives who file from here โ more a business district than a residential one.
Belvedere / Tiburon (94920) โ $866k
A pair of Marin County peninsulas with postcard views of the Golden Gate and the city skyline โ finance and tech wealth just across the bay from San Francisco.
Los Altos (94022) โ $840k
A leafy Silicon Valley town long favoured by tech founders and executives (Steve Jobs lived in neighbouring Palo Alto), with adjacent Los Altos Hills among the priciest addresses in the state.
Montecito (93108) โ $763k
The celebrity-studded enclave beside Santa Barbara โ home to Oprah Winfrey and to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, among others โ with ocean-view estates set in the foothills.
Pacific Palisades (90272) โ $707k
A coastal Los Angeles neighbourhood of canyon and bluff-top homes, long popular with actors, directors and entertainment executives.
Beverly Hills (90210) โ $665k
Perhaps the most famous wealthy ZIP code in the world โ shorthand for Hollywood money, palm-lined streets and the mansions of entertainers and moguls.
Corona del Mar (92625) โ $623k
An upscale coastal community in Newport Beach, Orange County โ clifftop homes above the Pacific, home to business owners and finance wealth.
About the data
Figures are the average adjusted gross income (AGI) per tax return in each ZIP code, from the IRS Statistics of Income program (tax year 2022, the latest available), limited to ZIP codes with at least 200 returns. AGI is income reported to the IRS before deductions. Note that a mean is pulled upward by a handful of ultra-high earners โ so enclaves with a few billionaires (Fisher Island, Palm Beach) can outrank places where nearly everyone is wealthy (like Atherton, which tops the country on median household income).
