Quick! What’s the average household income in Westport (as of 2021, anyway)?
$279,100? $428,300? $624,800?
Yep. It’s that third figure: nearly 2/3 of the way to a million dollars.
That puts 06880 in only 8th place though, among Connecticut Zip codes.
We trail 06831 (in Greenwich’s back country), which leads our state’s average household income ($1.2 million), as well as 06830 in Greenwich ($999,600), and other Zip codes in Riverside, Darien, Old Greenwich, New Canaan, and Norwalk’s 06853 (Rowayton; $627,000).
Southport was behind 06880, in 9th place ($525,400), while Weston’s 06883 was 10th ($440,100).
IRS statistics — first reported by CT Insider — show that 45% of Westport’s average household income comes from wages. Another 38% is derived from investments: capital gains, interest and dividends).
(Wages and investments columns are less than 100% due to other income sources like retirement distributions, social security and business income.)
Westport’s average income was almost double — 49% higher — than the 2013 figure.
Residents who can afford a home like this one at 50 Compo Mill Cove — $12.25 million for 5 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, on 0.39 acre — pull Westport’s average income upward.
The wealthiest ZIP Code in the US was 33109: Fisher Island, Florida. Residents there had an average income of $6 million. Just 6% came from wages; 86% were from investments.
It’s safe to say that — with Wall Street’s booming economy — Westport’s average income will increase even more, when the 2023 IRS figures are tabulated.
Obviously, data like this can be skewed by a few ultra-wealthy individuals.
Has Westport’s near-double growth in average household income in just 8 years been affected by an influx of new, young and very affluent arrivals, perhaps during the pandemic?
Did investments by savvy older, already wealthy Westporters pay off?
It’s hard to tell.
But one thing is certain: The inequality in Zip codes is stark.
06604 — the heart of Bridgeport, less than 10 miles from here — had a 2021 average household income of $43,000.
In the 8 years the report covered, it rose just 7%.
(Click here for the full CT Insider story. Hat tip: Lisa Wexler)
(“06880” does not come close to the average Westport household. That’s why we ask readers for tax-deductible contributions. Please click here to support our work.)
