New York City is home to the most millionaires in the world, with 350,000 people having a net worth of over $1 million. This equates to one in 24 residents in the city being millionaires, which is an increase from one in 36 in 2013. The city also boasts 60 billionaires and 744 individuals with investable wealth exceeding $100 million. The wealth in New York City is defined by Henley & Partners as liquid investable wealth, including cash, marketable securities, and money market funds, which totals to collectively have upwards of $3 trillion in wealth.
Despite the recent exodus of wealth from New York City due to the pandemic, the city’s financial capital has benefitted from the stock market boom in recent years. Global equities surged by 20% last year and are up almost 7% this year. However, some of the ultra-rich have been leaving New York for Florida in search of lower taxes and less restrictive pandemic lockdowns. As a result, luxury golf clubs in South Florida have seen a significant increase in membership rates, with more than 91,000 people relocating from New York State to Florida in 2022.
A power shift has been observed in New York City, leading to a trend of major financial firms moving to Florida, creating a “Wall Street South.” Notable names like Carl Icahn’s Icahn Capital Management and Paul Singer’s Elliott Management have already made the move to Florida from Manhattan. In the past few years, 160 Wall Street firms have moved out of New York City, with 56 of them relocating to Florida, taking a substantial $1 trillion in financial assets under management out of Manhattan.
The migration trend to Florida has propelled the city of Miami to become the 33rd city with the most millionaires in the world, showing a 78% increase over the past decade. The Bay Area in California follows New York City as the second city with the most millionaires, with 305,700 individuals having a net worth exceeding $1 million. Among the top 10 cities with the most millionaires are Tokyo, Singapore, London, Los Angeles, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Beijing, which has seen a 90% increase in millionaires over the past decade.
The top 10 cities with the most millionaires consist of global financial hubs like Tokyo, Singapore, London, and Hong Kong. Los Angeles is the only other US city in the top 10, ranking sixth with 212,100 millionaires, showing a 45% increase from 2013. Despite the wealth exodus from New York to Florida, the city remains the hub for millionaires globally, with a significant concentration of wealth in the financial and investment sectors. These trends in wealth distribution among major global cities underscore the shifting dynamics of wealth accumulation and concentration in urban centers across the world.
