146 New U.S. Cities Gained Million-Dollar Status in 2021, the Most Ever in a Single Year
- The U.S. currently has 481 million-dollar cities, in which the typical home value is at least $1 million.
- Idaho, Montana and Tennessee gained million-dollar cities for the first time, although most million-dollar cities exist within eight coastal metros.
- There are more new $1 million cities this year than there were in the past six years combined.
A record 146 new U.S. cities became “million-dollar cities” in 2021, the highest number of new entrants in a single year, bringing the total to 481 cities nationwide in which the typical home value is at least $1 million. And if current rates of appreciation hold, 49 more could join the $1 million club by mid-year, according to a Zillow analysis of current and expected home values.
The number of cities that crossed the $1 million threshold in 2021 is almost triple that of cities reaching those heights in 2020, underscoring a record-setting year of home appreciation that saw the typical U.S. home gain 19.6% in value. The surge in demand for housing last year sent home values skyrocketing, even in places where prices already were sky-high, and that helped tip a record number of cities into the million-dollar club. The locations of these newly seven-figure towns bust the myth that everyone fled California and the Northeast last year, as California, Massachusetts and New York led the pack for the most new cities with home values above $1 million. Still, we’re seeing how the geography of wealth in the U.S. has begun to shift, as 2021 was the first year for both Idaho and Montana to place any cities on this list, and now those Western states boast three million-dollar cities each.
The majority of million-dollar cities are clustered within a few large coastal regions; the San Francisco and New York metro areas lead the way with 76 million-dollar cities each. The Los Angeles metro is third with 57 cities, and San Jose is fourth with 22. In total, 60% of all million-dollar cities lie within eight metro areas, and almost half (44%) are in California.
Indian Creek, Florida, an exclusive 300-acre island in Biscayne Bay in Miami, is the most expensive city in the country, with a typical home value of around $28.3 million. The city has a total population of 88 residents, including a handful of high-profile celebrity tenants, such as Tom Brady and Enrique Iglesias. In the No. 2 spot is Atherton, a small town on the San Francisco Peninsula where the typical home value sits around $7.7 million. Hunts Point, Washington; Jupiter Island, Florida; and Sagaponack, New York fill out the top five, with typical home values of roughly $6 million each.
