Apple employees’ homes are worth five times the average home – and they make house prices in the area go up too

The average Apple worker's home is worth more than five times as much as the average American home, and the gap has been widening

In 2010, the average Apple employee’s home was just three times more valuable than the average US home, compared to five times today (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple employees are celebrating after their company has recorded the biggest annual profit in corporate history. Their neighbours in the San Francisco’s Bay area might also want to throw a party, because the price of their house might be about to go up.

The average Apple worker's home is worth more than five times as much as the average American home, and the gap has been widening, according to a new study.

Real estate data website Zillow, at the request of the Wall Street Journal, has tracked neighbourhoods with high proportions of Apple employees to see whether they drive up home prices nearby.

Workers at Google, Facebook and Apple live in pricier homes than other Bay Area workers and have faster home value growth than other workers, especially at times when the company is successful, the research found.

The typical worker at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters lives in a house worth $1.14 million. That’s around $241,000 more than the median home value in the San Jose area, $380,000 more than the median home value in the San Francisco metro area. In 2010, the average Apple employee’s home was just three times more valuable than the average US home, compared to five times today.

Since Apple debuted the iPhone in June 2007, the average difference between median home values of San Jose workers and Apple workers surged from 13 per cent to 20 per cent. Apple stock price was boosted by the iPhone, increasing employee compensation consequently – meaning the more successful the company, the higher the prices.

The widening tech gap
The chart shows the difference between the average value of houses occupied by Apple employees and the media value of homes in San Francisco (blue) and San Jose (red)

Using census data, real estate data website Zillow, at the request of the Wall Street Journal where Apple’s Curtino, Claifornia headquarters live, focusing on the areas of San Jose and San Fransisco (Zillow)

"This analysis highlights the widening wealth gap between tech company employees and other US workers – a gap that is putting increasing pressure on housing markets where tech companies are booming," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell.

Apple is likely not the only tech giant based in San Francisco to blame. But The Wall Street Journal said “the labour-intensive nature of the research made it difficult to study several firms.”

Zillow used data from the US Census Bureau on where workers live and work across California's Bay Area —primarily focusing on the neighbourhoods in the San Jose and San Francisco metropolitan areas.

Apple, which launched its new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models in September, sold 48million iPhones worldwide, setting a new fourth quarter record on Tuesday.