Washington’s most expensive community is home to billionaires. Can you guess where it is?
It isn’t a secret that Washington is one of the priciest states to live in. The News Tribune recently reported that the Evergreen State is among the bottom five U.S. states for affordability and necessities like rent, groceries, utilities and loans.
But what is the most expensive region in the state?
Washington’s median statewide home sale price was $586,000 as of March, according to real estate site Redfin, but homes in the state’s most expensive area have properties for sale over 14 times the cost of the state average.
Online lender CashNetUSA recently determined each U.S. state’s most expensive neighborhoods to be a homeowner. For Washington, that title goes to Medina, a town on the eastern shore of Lake Washington in King County. Properties in that community sell at an average of $8,585,489. The residential area, comprised by only a few thousand residents, lies on the shore opposite of Seattle’s Madison Park.
To determine each state’s most expensive neighborhood, CashNetUSA utilized real estate data from Zillow to calculate the most expensive neighborhoods in each state. The website averaged each community’s home price by adding together all the house prices in an area then dividing the number of properties.
Washington’s most expensive neighborhood
Medina is considered a suburb of Seattle. It was incorporated in 1955 and is home to just over 3,200 people. The suburb is highly regarded for its public schools and outdoor activities and is often considered a great destination for families, according to education website Niche.
“With parks and open spaces, Medina is a quiet and safe small city, with active and highly engaged residents,” the city states on its website. “Medina honors its heritage while preserving its natural environment and resources for current and future generations.”
Washington-based tech magnates Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos own multi-million dollar properties in Medina, Business Insider reports. Jeffrey Brotman, co-founder of Costco Wholesale, also resided in the suburb prior to his death in 2017.
Medina properties currently listed as for sale on Redfin range from a few million dollars up to more than $21 million.
America’s 10 priciest neighborhoods
Although Medina possesses homes far pricier than the average Washington resident can afford, other neighborhoods sell homes for much higher prices on average. Here are the top 10 in the nation:
$39,761,000 — Manalapan, Florida
$27,624,833 — Palm Island, Florida
$23,568,750 — Snowmass, Colorado
$22,771,957 — Beverly Hills Gateway, California
$22,032,667 — Port Royal, Florida
$18,659,412 — Golden Beach, Florida
$18,581,775 — Bel Air, California
$16,719,714 — South Hampton Village, New York
$16,016,944 — Sagaponack, New York
$15,870,100 — Trousdale Estates, California
For the purpose of its article, CashNetUSA cites a “neighborhood” based on its National Geographic encyclopedic entry. A neighborhood is a region within a city or state with fuzzy geographic borders but well-defined characteristics and identities. a region often referred to in relation to big cities. Residents in a neighborhood often share similar qualities, such as socioeconomic status, housing preferences, sense of public order and level of education.
