New York, Tokyo, and the San Francisco Bay Area are the world’s three wealthiest cities in terms of resident millionaires, according to Henley & Partners.

New York wears the crown as the wealthiest city in the world, with 340,000 millionaires, defined as those with investable assets of more than $1 million. Tokyo has 290,300 millionaires, and the San Francisco area, 285,000, according to the wealth data research firm.

The U.S. and China dominate the Top 10 list of fastest-growing resident millionaire citizens in the past decade between 2012 and 2022. The three fastest-growing millionaire hot spots in the U.S. are: Austin, Texas, which has seen this population surge by 102%; West Palm Beach, Florida (90%); and Scottsdale, Arizona (88%).

China’s three fastest-growing cities in terms of wealthy residents in the past 10 years are: Hangzhou (105%), Shenzhen (98%) and Guangzhou (86%).

Traditional wealth magnets have continued to experience strong growth over the past 10 years, says Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, which partnered with Henley & Partners on the survey.

“Arguably, the world’s top safe haven for the super-rich” is Monaco, where the average person has a net worth of more than $10 million, Amoils says. Monaco is one of the richest cities on the planet, on a per capita basis, he says.

Dubai is also another wealth magnet, with its low tax rates a big attraction. In 2022 alone, 3,500 high-net-worth (HNW) individuals moved to the city.

Los Angeles also ranked in the top 10 wealthiest cities in the world, making 6^th on the list, with 205,400 HNW individuals.

Other U.S. cities further down on the list are: Chicago (11^th, 124,000); Houston (15^th, 98,500); Seattle (23^rd; 50,500); Boston (26^th, 41,700); Miami (28^th, 38,000); Austin, Texas (34^th, 30,500); Las Vegas, Nevada (50^th, 16,800); and San Diego, California (54^th, 14,700).

Moving further down the list are: Scottsdale, Arizona (57^th, 13,900); Santa Barbara and Montecito, California (62^nd, 12,300); Greenwich and Darien, Connecticut (64^th, 11,900); and West Palm Beach, Florida (66^th, 9,400).

Foreign investment has increased the wealth of many of the cities on the list, says Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley Partners. "Seven of the top 10 wealthiest cities in the world are in countries that host formal investment migration programs and actively encourage foreign direct investment in return for resident or citizenship rights," Steffen says.


World’s 10 Wealthiest Cities
 

Source: Henley & Partners