Has the Bay Area been subject to more studies than any city in modern history? The cost of housing and social issues has put us in the culture crosshairs, and it seems like a new study about life here comes out every day.
The latest is a national study from Zillow with the amusing (and rather soap opera-ish) title, "Young and Rich: Where Affluent Millennials Live." It finds San Francisco has the second highest population of rich millennials (of course), right behind Arlington, Virginia. Sunnyvale holds the fourth spot and Oakland has the ninth spot.
Looking at the study in total Emily Heffter, a Zillow blogger, says that "The tech world is full of stories of young people getting rich overnight, but some young people are still getting rich the old-fashioned way, and living in the affluent cities favored by their parents’ generation."
She must be talking about Arlington, because the Zillow data on the Bay Area points to tech money. Of San Francisco, the study authors note the city is "synonymous with high-paying tech jobs and a tight housing supply." The city of Sunnyvale is described as a "Silicon Valley hotspot." Oakland is held up as an example of "how wealth spreads from one city to the next."
Here's the study broke it down:
- San Francisco (#2): 7.8 percent of millennials make more than $350,000. Median home value: $1.130 million; median rent: $4,500+/month
- Sunnyvale (tied with Seattle for #4): 3.9 percent of millennials make more than $350,000. Median home value: $1.137 million; median rent: $3,877/month
- Oakland (#9): 2.6 percent of millennials made in excess of $350,000. Median home value: $586,800; median rent $2,707
The study's conclusion: "Not everyone in the 22-34 age group is scraping by."