Aside from the millionaires working in Silicon Valley, it’s likely most of the country has never heard of a small town called Atherton.
But the quiet neighborhood, which features no shops or restaurants, was the nation’s most expensive place to live in 2018, according to a new ranking from data website PropertyShark.
Atherton, located just 20 minutes away from the headquarters of Google and Facebook, was ranked the most expensive zip code in the country in 2018 with a median sales price of $6.7 million, according to the Robb Report.
It’s not a complete shock given the neighborhood’s proximity to some of the world’s best-paying companies. Tech giants like Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, and Stephen Luczo, executive chairman of Seagate Technology, are among Atherton’s wealthy residents. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and tech investors Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreessen have also reportedly called the town home.
Overall, California held a substantial presence on PropertyShark’s ranking. The state held 82 of the 117 zip codes on the list, comprising roughly 70 percent of the country’s most expensive properties.
Of the six zip codes in L.A. to appear on the ranking, Santa Monica’s 90402 zip code claimed the fifth overall spot, topping any other zip code in Los Angeles County. The median sales price in Santa Monica was $3.7 million, reflecting an increase of 7 percent year over year.
East Coast zip codes also showed up on the list. There were about 19 New York zip codes on the list — the most expensive of which, Sagaponack’s 11962, claimed the No. 2 spot with a median sales price of $5.5 million. [Robb Report] — Natalie Hoberman