Some of the most expensive cities in the country are also where the highest number of resident millionaires, centimillionaires and billionaires are concentrated, according to a new report by Henley & Partners, a company that specializes in residence and citizenship by investment.
While the usual suspects topped the list—New York, the Bay Area and Los Angeles—Texas dominated with three entries, showing that the state has become a magnet for investors and businesspeople.
Why It Matters
Since the pandemic, the income inequality gap in the U.S. has widened, with billionaires accumulating more wealth during the health emergency than they had in the previous decades. This phenomenon has continued. At a global level, billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion in 2024, according to the nonprofit Oxfam, three times faster than the year before.
The U.S. is home to 37 percent of the world’s billionaires, Henley & Partners reported. A Congressional Budget report published last year found that the top 10 percent of wealthy Americans controlled 60 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the poorer 50 percent of the country’s population held 6 percent.
While the wealthiest people in the country tend to establish themselves in cities that offer a competitive job market and a thriving business culture, their presence in those places tend to bring up the cost of living and housing for other residents.
What To Know
According to Henley & Partners data, these are the 10 wealthiest cities in the U.S., based on the number of millionaires, centimillionaires and billionaires living there:
- New York City, New York
- Bay Area (San Francisco), California
- Los Angeles, California
- Chicago, Illinois
- Houston, Texas
- Dallas, Texas
- Seattle, Washington
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Miami, Florida
- Austin, Texas
These cities not only have thousands of resident millionaires and hundreds of centimillionaires but also experienced significant growth in the number of wealthy residents over the past decade.
Between 2014 and 2024, the number of millionaires living in these cities surged, Henley & Partners reported—by 45 percent in New York, 98 percent in the Bay Area, 35 percent in Los Angeles, 24 percent in Chicago, 75 percent in Houston, 85 percent in Dallas, 48 percent in Seattle, 40 percent in Boston, 94 percent in Miami and 90 percent in Austin.
The Bay Area and Miami were also among the fastest-growing wealth hubs in the country—a list that includes Scottsdale, Arizona, which experienced a millionaire growth of 125 percent between 2014 and 2024; West Palm Beach, Florida, which is up 112 percent; and Washington, D.C., which is up 92 percent.
What People Are Saying
Basil Mohr-Elzeki, the managing partner at Henley & Partners North America, wrote in a report of the U.S.’s strong millionaire growth in recent years: “The remarkable strength of the U.S. stock market has been particularly impactful, with the average American centi-millionaire holding over 50 percent of their liquid wealth in U.S. equities. The country has also seen strong wealth growth in rapidly expanding wealth hubs including Scottsdale, the Bay Area, Washington DC, Austin, Dallas, and several Florida cities such as West Palm Beach, Miami, and Tampa.
“America’s dominance in high-growth tech sectors gives it significant advantages over Europe. Nearly all the world’s top tech firms call the U.S. home, fueling a booming private equity market with large numbers of American unicorn start-ups emerging.”
Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told USA Today in July: “Wealth inequality in our country is staggering and just growing worse. To me, that wealth inequality creates a lot of social problems. Those who have can call the shots, and those who don’t have to struggle to get by.”
Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told USA Today of the 2024 Congressional Budget’s report: “[It] is stating the obvious, that wealth in the United States is concentrated, and getting more so. This has been in the makings, really, for two generations, maybe three. And the trend lines are disconcerting.”
What Happens Next
According to Mohr-Elzeki, the U.S. is likely to continue growing its share of resident millionaires this year, despite growing interest in dual citizenship among wealthy people living in the country.
“Perhaps most telling is America’s enduring attraction for migrating millionaires,” he wrote in the report.
“In 2024 alone, the USA attracted approximately 3,800 high-net-worth individuals, 95 centi-millionaires, and 10 billionaires—the latter two being particularly significant as these individuals are typically company founders and entrepreneurs. We anticipate this number will be significantly higher this year.”
Read the full article here
