Evangelical Makeup of the Wealthiest Zip Codes in the U.S.
By Lisa Cannon Green
In Matthew 19:23, Jesus tells His disciples: “It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.”
By that reckoning, the top mission field in America may be Fisher Island, Florida—with Atherton, California, a distant second.
Fisher Island, off the coast of Miami, is the richest zip code in the United States, according to a Bloomberg analysis of Internal Revenue Service data.
The 216-acre island had an average income of $2.5 million in 2015, Bloomberg says.
Average income was $1 million lower in second-place Atherton, in the Silicon Valley area.
Despite their hefty incomes, residents of Fisher Island appear to be no more charitable than the typical American. Those who wrote off charitable contributions on their tax returns donated about 2 percent of their income, in line with the national average.
For Fisher Island residents, that amounted to donations of about $85,600.
Residents of Atherton were considerably more generous. Those who claimed charitable contributions on their tax returns gave 4.6 percent of their income, or an average of $113,190.
So are these communities good destinations for your church’s next mission trip?
Both have plenty of unreached people. More than 60 percent of the residents of Miami-Dade County, Florida—which includes Fisher Island—are “unclaimed” by any of 236 religious groups, according to 2010 statistics from TheARDA.com, the Association of Religion Data Archives.
Nearly 54 percent of the people in San Mateo County, California—which includes Atherton—are also unclaimed. That’s more than the national average of 51 percent.
Both communities also have fewer evangelical Protestants than the national average, data from TheARDA.com shows. Evangelicals account for less than 11 percent of the population in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and a scant 3.4 percent in San Mateo County, California—well below the national average of 16.2 percent.
But if you decide to go to Fisher Island, be forewarned: The church bus alone won’t get you there. The exclusive island is accessible only by watercraft.
Richest zip codes
Bloomberg’s list of the top 20 zip codes, ranked by average adjusted gross income on 2015 tax returns:
1. | Miami Beach, Florida 33109 | $2,543,100 |
2. | Atherton, California 94027 | $1,496,500 |
3. | Palm Beach, Florida 33480 | $1,254,500 |
4. | Palo Alto, California 94301 | $1,175,400 |
5. | Harrison, New York 10577 | $976,200 |
6. | Gladwyne, Pennsylvania 19035 | $957,200 |
7. | Los Angeles, California 90067 | $905,700 |
8. | Kenilworth, Illinois 60043 | $861,000 |
9. | Weston, Massachusetts 02493 | $860,400 |
10. | San Francisco, California 94111 | $776,400 |
11. | Far Hills, New Jersey 07931 | $747,200 |
12. | Boston, Massachusetts 02110 | $711,900 |
13. | Portola Valley, California 94028 | $701,200 |
14. | Moose Wilson Road, Wyoming 83014 | $699,200 |
15. | Naples, Florida 34102 | $694,700 |
16. | Medina, Washington 98039 | $691,800 |
17. | Riverside, Connecticut 06878 | $661,500 |
18. | Old Westbury, New York 11568 | $639,800 |
19. | Glencoe, Illinois 60022 | $633,700 |
20. | Greenwich, Connecticut 06831 | $626,200 |
Related:
- How Charitable is Your State?
- What’s Dividing America? Young People Say It’s Not Religion
- What Drives Churchgoers’ Charitable Giving?
- 6 Ways to Create a Culture of Generosity in Your Church
LISA CANNON GREEN (@lisacgreen) is senior editor of Facts & Trends.