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If you want to find the metro's wealthiest ZIP codes, you’ll need to travel west of MoPac Expressway.
The top five on Austin Business Journal's latest list of ZIPs ranked by median household income form a loose band stretching from the hilly bends of Lake Austin down to Driftwood. That household income ranged from $187,778 in the No. 1, the 78733 ZIP that includes the Barton Creek neighborhood, to $153,438 in 78619, on the southwest fringe of the capital city in Hays County.
That's no surprise — Austin's wealth has long been concentrated on its west side. But ABJ's list, which uses U.S. Census Bureau data, shows how that level of wealth is changing: in 2020, median household income in 78733 was $171,027 and in 78619 it was $136,779.
20 wealthiest ZIPs
Ranked by 2021 estimated median household income, sourced from Census Bureau's American Community Survey
The average median income across the top 25 ZIPs was $128,170 in 2021, the latest year for which data were available, up 7% from $119,411 across the same ZIP codes in 2020. In 2016, that number was just $110,003.
Accordingly, home prices have climbed in the past few years in these areas. Brandy Harrison, a Realtor with Austin Real Estate Experts who both lives in and sells homes in 78732’s Steiner Ranch subdivision, said the cheapest home being marketed in that neighborhood is around $599,000. The most expensive home is a lakefront property going for $6 million.
Harrison said that when she purchased her Steiner Ranch home in 2012, it cost around $300,000. In 2023, she said homes nearby can sell for around $1 million.
It's a prime example of the housing appreciation seen across the wider Austin area, where the median price peaked at a record $550,000 in April and May 2022, up 75% from five years prior.
However, rising interest rates have slowed the market a bit, and the metro's median price had slid to $483,000 in June.
The high end of the market is not immune to the slowdown. All-cash deals are typical in the $3 million-and-up range, meaning higher interest rates don't have much of a direct impact, but the Federal Reserve's historic rate hikes still have an effect because sellers are concerned about the overall temperature in the market, said Matt Holm, a broker with Compass.
In wealthy areas, homes are spending longer on the market and agents are having to spend more time and money on marketing, according to Holm, who sold $100 million worth of homes in 2022 to rank No. 2 on this year's Residential Real Estate Awards.
"The process hasn't changed, it's elongated based on a scared buyer pool," he said.
It's worth noting that Austin has the second-highest share among Texas' big cities of homes priced at $1 million or higher, at 22%, according to a recent analysis by real estate analytics company Point2. Only Dallas scored higher on the analysis, with nearly 25% of homes on sale for $1 million or more. So swings in the luxury residential market can have an outsized effect on the wealthy ZIPs clustered west of downtown Austin. At least in Steiner Ranch, amenities like swimming pools and lake views can drive up prices, Harrison said. So can renovations in a neighborhood that began construction in the 1980s.
"We're definitely expecting a home to have a new kitchen and new bathrooms," she said of buyer expectations. "Otherwise they’re deeply discounted. These homes are like 3,000 square feet, so updates are very expensive."
Moving beyond West Austin, the Central Business District's 78701 ranked No. 8 among the wealthiest ZIPs, followed by 78652 in South Austin. The tony enclave of Tarrytown and the rest of the 78703 ZIP rounded out the top 10.
Will Anderson contributed reporting.
Median household income
| Rank | Prior Rank | ZIP Code |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 78733 |
2 | 2 | 78732 |
3 | 3 | 78739 |