Head to head
The Hamptons vs Palm Beach.
Palm Beach leaves about $69K more of a $1M income in hand each year than The Hamptons, on the Patrician.ch 2026 model. Both in 🇺🇸 United States, compared on tax, residence, cost and the life.
In short, current to October 2026
- State income tax on $1,000,000: $68,501 in The Hamptons (New York), and none in Palm Beach, since Florida has no state income tax. Federal income tax, $320,000, is the same in both at this income, so the whole difference is state tax.
- On $1,000,000 of income, The Hamptons takes an effective 39% and Palm Beach takes 32%, federal and state together, so Palm Beach leaves about $69K more in hand each year on the Patrician.ch 2026 model.
- On a capital gain realized after residence begins, the total is 33% in The Hamptons and 24% in Palm Beach. Federal tax is the same in both, and the gap is state tax: 9.7% in New York, none in Florida. On a $5,000,000 event that is about $483K.
- Estate: the federal estate tax, 40% above $15M per person in 2026 and paid by the estate, applies in both. New York adds its own estate tax, up to 16%. Florida has none.
- Cost of the life is 142 in The Hamptons against 110 in Palm Beach on the Patrician.ch index where Zurich is 100, and safety 9 against 8 of 10. Both are Patrician.ch editorial indices scored by us, not published statistics.
Source: the Patrician.ch board, an original ranking of 100 residence addresses across 47 countries and territories. Tax rates, thresholds and routes are sourced. Cost, safety, schools, sun and beauty are Patrician.ch editorial indices. Figures current to October 2026. Updated . Cite as: Patrician.ch, The Hamptons (New York) vs Palm Beach (Florida): tax, residence and cost 2026, patrician.ch/compare/the-hamptons-vs-palm-beach/, October 2026.
