Los Altos Hills is not only the wealthiest town in California, it’s the wealthiest in the entire country, according to a new analysis of median household income.
People who live in Los Altos Hills earn a median household income of nearly $244,000 per year, according to an analysis of new U.S. Census data by the financial website 24/7 Wall Street. That’s about four times more than the statewide median household income of $64,000.
It’s no wonder why: Los Altos Hills has long been an enclave for Silicon Valley’s wealthiest residents, notably Google CEO Sundar Pichai, former Cisco Systems CEO-turned venture investor John Chambers, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, and a host of other entrepreneurs.
Los Altos Hills has no retail shops, post office, or library. There are very few sidewalks, and each new home is required to have at least a one-acre lot, to help preserve the town’s deliberately engineered rural feel.
Not surprisingly, that translates into higher real estate values. The median home value in Los Altos Hills now stands at more than $2 million, compared to the statewide median of $409,000. The town is one of only five in America where more than half of homes for sale cost more than $2 million.
The most expensive home sold in Santa Clara County in 2017 was a five-bedroom hilltop Los Altos Hills estate on Westwind Way (pictured in the gallery above) that sold for $25 million in October.
Altogether, five of the 11 most expensive homes sold in the county last year were in Los Altos Hills, with the a tie between two $9.75 million homes for the No. 10 spot.
A little more than 84 percent of adults living in the town holds at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 32 percent of all Californians, 24/7 Wall Street reports.
Unlike more competitive markets in Silicon Valley, it can be difficult to put valuations on real estate in Los Altos Hills, where homes can find themselves in a class of their own, without readily available comparables.
That seems to be the case for venture capitalist Kumar Malavalli, who listed his more than 20,000-square-foot mansion in 2015 for $88 million. Last year, he dropped the price to $68 million, and this week, dropped it again to $55 million — $33 million less than he originally hoped to get.
Venture capitalist Kumar Malavailli is now seeking $55 million for his Los Altos home.
