Where do this country’s most prosperous citizens hang out? How much money do they have? President Obama wants them to pay a bit more in taxes. But how much are they coughing up now?
Answers to these questions can be extracted from a little-utilized IRS database of income tax statistics. The file sorts tax returns by income range and by zip code.
Wary of releasing any data that might reveal something about individual taxpayers, the IRS slices its statistics into broad ranges. In this data set the top tier of income is $200,000 and up. Except, perhaps, to a politician looking for revenue increases, this scarcely qualifies a taxpayer as wealthy.
So I put a finer sieve on the database, zeroing in on communities where the average income within the 200K-and-up set is at least $1 million.
Result: a set of 130,400 tax returns from 64 hot spots of prosperity–suburbs, islands, parts of cities. The list of ritzy places ranges from Fisher Island, an enclave of yacht owners off Miami, to the Tribeca area of Manhattan, where wage slaves with seven-figure salaries have their chic loft apartments.
Ranked by income, the list of rich places starts with Fisher Island, at $3.2 million per high-bracket taxpayer. Then come Purchase, N.Y. at $2.2 million; two more New York City suburbs, New Vernonand Alpine, N.J., both at $2.1 million, and Atherton, Calif. at $1.9 million.
Residences on Fisher consist for the most part of ritzy condos with very stiff maintenance fees. You can’t get on the island except by boat. Mel Gibson and Oprah Winfrey have had places there.
I did something more with the data that the IRS doesn’t do: estimate net worths, using figures on dividend, interest and business income as starting points.
In estimated net worth, the richest five communities are: Fisher Island, at $57 million per high-bracket return; Alpine, at $28 million; Medina, at $26 million; Palm Beach, Fla., at $23 million, and the King’s Point/Great Neck area on Long Island, at $22 million.
The recent stock market swoon did some damage to net worths, but not as much as you might think. The moneyed set in this country hold a lot of bonds, too, and bonds have done well this year.
Where do the rich get their income? Just under half of the money coming in is from working: salaries, pensions, Social Security, IRA payouts. The upper-bracket folk in the 64 rich hot spots take in 52% of their income from property: stocks, bonds, real estate, oil wells and businesses.
For the average American taxpayer, property income is only 17% of the pie.
The fraction of income from property peaks at 85% for Fisher Island. Property accounts for 75% or more of income in two other Florida communities, Boca Raton and Key Largo, and in Charlottesville. It hits bottom in fast-paced New York. Tribecans get only 25% of their income from investments.
Tribeca, in other words, is for up-and-comers. Fisher Island is for people who made it a long time ago and are sitting on fat brokerage accounts.
No. 5 - Kings Point, N.Y.
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| Kings Point, NY is No. 5 in highest net worth. Photo: Trulia.com |
These building lots on Gatsby Lane are listed at $18 million. If you build there, you will have high-bracket neighbors averaging $21.8 million in net worth.
No. 4 - Palm Beach, Fla.
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| Palm Beach, FL, famous for millionaires is in 4th place. Photo: Zillow |
This Mediterranean-style home, built in 1926, has a $17.9 million price tag. Average high-bracket net worth in the neighborhood: $23.3 million.
No. 3 - Medina, Wash.
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| Medina, WA is No. 3 for highest net worth. Photo: Zillow |
This four-bedroom at $6.9 million has a view and has Bill Gates living nearby. He is probably one reason the average net worth for high-bracket taxpayers is $25.5 million.
No. 2 - Alpine, N.J.
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| Alpine NJ is No. 2 in highest net worth. Photo: Zillow |
This house comes with a heated driveway for $34 million. Average upper-bracket net worth in Alpine: $27.5 million.
No. 1 - Fisher Island, Fla.
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| Fisher Island, FL is No. 1 for both highest net worth & income. Photo: Rhona Wise/AFP/Newscom |
Fisher Island, off Miami, is home to a dense collection of yachts and millionaires. The Forbes estimate of average net worth for taxpayers here with at least $200,000 of income is $57.2 million.
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