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Small Towns, Big Money

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Small Towns, Big Money No. 50 Most Expensive Small Town: Lake Success, N.Y. No. 49 Most Expensive Small Town: Gulf Stream, Fla. No. 48 Most Expensive Small Town: Belle Meade, Tenn. No. 47 Most Expensive Small Town: Avalon, N.J. No. 46 Most Expensive Small Town: Cherry Hills Village, Colo. No. 45 Most Expensive Small Town: North Haven, N.Y. No. 44 Most Expensive Small Town: Travilah, Md. No. 43 Most Expensive Small Town: Hewlett Harbor, N.Y. No. 42 Most Expensive Small Town: Emerald Lake Hills, Calif. No. 41 Most Expensive Small Town: Lattingtown, N.Y. No. 40 Most Expensive Small Town: Del Mar, Calif. No. 39 Most Expensive Small Town: Clyde Hill, Wash. No. 38 Most Expensive Small Town: Great Neck Estates, N.Y. No. 37 Most Expensive Small Town: Munsey Park, N.Y. No. 36 Most Expensive Small Town: Chevy Chase Village, Md. No. 35 Most Expensive Small Town: Bridgehampton, N.Y. No. 34 Most Expensive Small Town: Medina, Wash. No. 33 Most Expensive Small Town: Spring Lake, N.J. No. 32 Most Expensive Small Town: Kentfield, Calif. No. 31 Most Expensive Small Town: Sea Girt, N.J. No. 30 Most Expensive Small Town: Saddle River, N.J. No. 29 Most Expensive Small Town: Yarrow Point, Wash. No. 28 Most Expensive Small Town: Chilmark, Mass. No. 27 Most Expensive Small Town: Stinson Beach, Calif. No. 26 Most Expensive Small Town: Lloyd Harbor, N.Y. No. 25 Most Expensive Small Town: Tiburon, Calif. No. 24 Most Expensive Small Town: Laurel Hollow, N.Y. No. 23 Most Expensive Small Town: Amagansett, N.Y. No. 22 Most Expensive Small Town: Muttontown, N.Y. No. 21 Most Expensive Small Town: Plandome, N.Y. No. 20 Most Expensive Small Town: Oyster Bay Cove, N.Y. No. 19 Most Expensive Small Town: Upper Brookville, N.Y. No. 18 Most Expensive Small Town: Monte Sereno, Calif. No. 17 Most Expensive Small Town: Loyola, Calif. No. 16 Most Expensive Small Town: Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. No. 15 Most Expensive Small Town: Old Westbury, N.Y. No. 14 Most Expensive Small Town: Old Brookville, N.Y. No. 13 Most Expensive Small Town: Quogue, N.Y. No. 12 Most Expensive Small Town: Brookville, N.Y. No. 11 Most Expensive Small Town: Fisher Island, Fla. No. 10 Most Expensive Small Town: Woodside, Calif. No. 9 Most Expensive Small Town: Sands Point, N.Y. No. 8 Most Expensive Small Town: Hidden Hills, Calif. No. 7 Most Expensive Small Town: Rolling Hills, Calif. No. 6 Most Expensive Small Town: Belvedere, Calif. No. 5 Most Expensive Small Town: Water Mill, N.Y. No. 4 Most Expensive Small Town: Los Altos Hills, Calif. No. 3 Most Expensive Small Town: Kings Point, N.Y. No. 2 Most Expensive Small Town: Jupiter Island, Fla. No. 1 Most Expensive Small Town: Sagaponack, N.Y.

Small Towns, Big Money

By Venessa Wong

Rich people may like to travel, but like everyone else they want to keep their daily commute as short as possible. So when it comes to buying a home, they want to be close to work, and because they're rich they can pretty much be where they like. But they also like safe neighborhoods, good schools, pretty views, and, if possible, access to beaches and country clubs. Small wonder then that those towns which offer all the above and are nearest to the crossroads of money and power are among the priciest in the nation. Of course, sometimes the reverse is true. The very rich also tend to have at least one second home, so the places where they gravitate—the Hamptons, Martha's Vineyard, Palm Beach—may be chosen for their distance from the office.

Businessweek.com worked with real estate website Zillow.com to rank the most expensive small towns around the country based on their median home value. A total of 4,624 places with populations less than 10,000 were evaluated. Two states dominate the list: New York with 22 towns and California with 13 towns. Other states in this ranking include Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington. A newcomer to the list is Tennessee, where Belle Meade came in as the 48th most expensive small town.

Click here to see the country's 50 most expensive small towns, where median home values all exceed $1 million.