The Growing Number of Million Dollar Cities

The number of U.S. cities with median home values of $1 million or more is increasing. From 2017 to 2018, 33 cities crossed over into the million dollar-median range. 

Most of these cities are concentrated in California, with 111, and New York is close behind with 30 million-dollar cities, and the New York metropolitan area (including New Jersey) has 41 such cities. Beverly Hills, Calif. has a median of $3.5 million, and the two Hamptons cities of Bridgehampton and East Hampton, N.Y. have median home values of $2.7 million and $1.5 million, respectively, per Zillow data. Atherton, Calif. near Silicon Valley has the highest median home value, $6.9 million, more than 31 times the median national home value as of June 2018.

The number of million-dollar cities has doubled over the past five years. These markets tend to be affluent and exclusive suburbs in communities adjacent to finance and tech hubs. Although home value growth is expected to slow over the next year, particularly at the high end of the market, the number of cities where more than half of homes are valued in the seven digits is expected to jump to a new all-time high over the next 12 months.

Read more