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Relevance to Generation Z:

Generational wealth inequality, being worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, has massive ramifications for the intergenerational mobility of generation Z. As income and wealth inequality gets worse, it poses a threat to young people’s educational and professional prospects. Thus, it is crucial that generation Z have a strong understanding of the economic landscape in which we find ourselves in and this article provides much-needed analysis on that issue.

The richest zip codes in the United States have only continued to grow richer due to COVID-19. Bloomberg data identified the 100 wealthiest zip codes using 2018 Internal Revenue Service data, the most recent available, and then looked at housing prices since the pandemic to see the surge in housing prices that have taken place in the wealthiest enclaves of America.

While wealthy Americans have flocked away from urban metropolitan areas, the rise in Suburban popularity has led to an increase of wealth concentration in various suburban areas like Westchester County and Fairfield County. 

The pandemic has accelerated the rate at which the concentration of wealth is accumulating within various suburbs. For example, in Palm Beach, Covid-19 has accelerated a trend that began a few years ago, with many of its newest residents transplants from New York yearning for a more relaxed, conservative, and warmer lifestyle amid the pandemic.

Another way to see the increase of wealth in certain areas is to look at various shops and restaurants relocating. For example, Manhattan staples like Le Bilboquet and Sotheby’s have opened up locations in Palm Beach amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Palm Beach to Atherton to Harrison, it is clear that the wealthiest in America are paying extreme amounts, particularly now, to live near each other as an exodus to the suburbs of America takes place.

- Sarah Levine

Source: Bloomberg