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Where to go when your EV is low: Rich neighborhoods have most charging stations

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If you’re running low on juice in your electric car, truck, or SUV, head for the wealthiest part of town. An April survey by Realtor.com found that home prices in the top 20 areas in the U.S. with the most electric vehicle charging stations were more than two and a half times the national average home price.

Realtor.com tracked 19,743 charging stations in 6,980 ZIP codes in the U.S. listed on OpenChargeMap on April 1. After mapping EV charging stations to ZIP codes, the study found the combined median list price for the 20 ZIP codes with the most charging stations was $782,000. That price was 1.5 times higher than the average home price in the various area’s respective metropolitan areas and 2.6 times more than the rest of the United States.

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Nine of the ZIP codes with the most EV charging stations were in California, which isn’t a surprise because more electric vehicles are sold in California than any other state, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Florida, New York, and Hawaii each had two of the top EV charging station ZIP codes, and Texas, Nevada, Ohio, Georgia, and South Carolina had one apiece.

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Irvine, California’s 92618 ZIP code had 77 charging stations, and the median listing price of homes listed in that ZIP on April 1 was $949,000. Irvine was far ahead of ZIP code 93446 in Paso Robles, California, on both measures. The Paso Robles ZIP had 46 charging stations and a $567,000 median listing price.

If even the 77 Irvine charging stations doesn’t sound like a lot of places to juice up your EV, consider the five ZIP codes on the bottom of the list, each of which had 21 stations: 95616 in Davis, California; 10019 in New York, New York; 89109 in Las Vegas, Nevada; 43215 in Columbus, Ohio; and 29201 in Columbia, South Carolina.

If you’re wondering about the relationship between EV charging stations and wealthier areas, don’t assume that buying an electric vehicle means you’ll get richer. It’s safer to say rich people buy more EVs than people with average incomes. Realtor.com came to the same conclusion.

“Our data shows there’s definitely a link between the prevalence of electric vehicle charging stations and higher home prices,” said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com chief economist. “But there’s a difference between correlation and causation. The trend we’re seeing in the data is most likely a result of the fact that wealthier homeowners are more likely to purchase expensive electric vehicles. But regardless of the cause, if you’re shopping for a home in a ZIP with an abundance of electric vehicle charging stations, you’ll likely pay a premium.”

So if you drive an electric vehicle, your fortune may not ready for an upswing, but if your EV’s battery is running low or if you want to top off the charge, head for the wealthier parts of town.

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Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Contributing Editor
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
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