Australia has a new richest postcode for the first time in seven years.
The postcode that's home to Palm Beach on Sydney's Northern Beaches has dethroned the one containing Edgecliff, Darling Point and Malcolm Turnbull's Point Piper residence in the city's eastern suburbs, according to Australian Taxation Office statistics released late on Thursday.
The 1,279 tax filers in Palm Beach's 2108 postcode reported an average income of $230,330 for 2016/17, while the 6,089 tax filers in Edgecliff's 2027 postcode made an average of $187,769.
Postcode 2027 had ranked as Australia's highest earning postcode since 2009/10, but in 2016/17 it also ranked behind Melbourne's 3142, where the 10,044 filers in Hawksburn and Toorak made an average of $193.904.
Palm Beach's 2108 postcode - which also includes Scotland Island, Coasters Retreat, Great Mackerel Beach and Currawong Beach - hadn't even been on the list of the top-earning postcodes in Australia in the last few years.
"It probably reflects the change in demographics and income changes," ATO deputy commissioner Louise Clarke told AAP.
David Edwards, principal of LJ Hooker Palm Beach and a lifelong resident, said a "substantial trend in the last few years" of turning Palm Beach holiday homes into principal residences could be responsible for the change.
In 2008/09 the postcode 3944 - the Mornington Peninsula suburb of Portsea - was the top-earning postcode, with an average income of $197,987, but 2027 had taken the top spot since.
The ATO statistics showed that in 2016/17, 6011 was the richest postcode in Western Australia. The 6,431 tax filers living in Cottesloe and Peppermint Grove on Perth's western suburbs made an average of $155,264.
In ACT, the 2603 was richest, with 6,650 tax-filers in Forrest, Griffith, Manuka and Red Hill earned an average of $110,394.
In Queensland, 4007 took the top spot, with 9,278 residents of Ascot, Hamilton and Hamilton Central in northeast Brisbane earning an average of $107,478.
South Australia's top postcode was 5061, where 6,587 residents of Hyde Park, Malvern and Unley in inner-southern Adelaide made an average of $93,871.
In the Northern Territory, 885 residents in the mining town of Alyangula - postcode 885 - made an average of $83,343.
Tasmania's top postcode was 7258, where the 571 residents of the Launceston suburbs of Breadalbane, Relbia and White Hills made an average of $68,621.
The lowest-earning postcode was 2308, covering Newcastle University and Callaghan, with an average taxable income of $20,589.
The second-lowest was 4611 in Queensland, where Marshlands and Mondure residents earned an average of $23,225.
The report also showed that surgeons were once again the top-earning profession, making an average of $394,866. Anaesthetists came second, earning $367,343 on average.
Out of 1,100 occupations recorded, there were 72 where women made more than men, including authors, future traders, magistrates, professional surfers and illustrators.
