In 2019 Fisher Island was named the wealthiest zip code in the United States, where the average income in 2015 was $2.5million per year.
Located just a short boat ride away from Miami, an analysis conducted by Bloomberg shows that the highest per capita income of anywhere in the 50 states is the area whose zip code reads 33109.
Fisher Island, Florida is a 216-acre island that was once home to celebrities like media mogul Oprah Winfrey, actor Mel Brooks, retired tennis star Boris Becker, and Czech supermodel Karolina Kurkova.
It is also a preferred landing spot for wealthy foreigners who buy up pricey real estate.
Aerial view of the exclusive Fisher Island residential compound, left, with a view of the southern tip of Miami Beach. It was named the wealthiest zip code in the United States in 2018
The relative wealth of residents of Fisher Island is staggering. Of all zip codes in the US, Fisher Island was the only one where more than half of all tax returns showed an income of at least $200,000.
It has approximately 700 families who own either a home or an apartment, but only a small fraction of them are actually there at a given time, according to Forbes.
That’s because Fisher Island is primarily a vacation haunt for the superrich, who only spend a few weeks or months at a time.
In February 2015, an unidentified buyer plunked down $35million for a seven-bedroom penthouse on the island, according to Mansion Global.
The buyer, reported to be a Russian businessman, then put the property back on the market in August 2015 for $38.5million.
Eventually, the property, with 9,715 square feet and a rooftop deck of 6,798 square feet, sold in May 2017 for $35million, The Real Deal reported.
Anyone visiting the island will need to be prepared to shell out some big bucks. The island is home to eight restaurants, among them several high-end steakhouses. All the restaurants charge residents’ expense accounts, so no cash changes hands, according to Forbes.
Czech supermodel Karolina Kurkova also owns a home on Fisher Island
There is also a nine-hole golf course, a bird-watching area, and 18 tennis courts that are made of the same grass as in Wimbledon and the same clay as in Roland-Garros.
As if that weren’t enough, the island boasts of a mile-long private beachfront with sand that was especially imported from Bermuda. Every morning, workers rake it.
Fisher Island as a home to multiple families is a relatively new concept. It was first created over 100 years ago as part of land reclamation projects in and around Miami Beach.
In 1925, William Vanderbilt II traded a luxury yacht for ownership of the island. After he died in 1944, the island was inherited by Edward Moore, a member of the Moore family which co-founded US Steel.
After Moore’s death, the island was sold to Gar Wood, a millionaire who invented hydraulic construction equipment. Wood’s family was the only one living on the island.
In 1963, Wood sold the island to a development group that included Richard Nixon, who would eventually become president in 1968.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that massive, widescale development on the island began in earnest.
Since then, it has become one of the most expensive areas in which to buy real estate.