The World's Wealthiest City Is...

When it comes to cities with a surplus number of millionaire residents, the U.S. is the global leader in the 2024 World’s Wealthiest Cities Report published by international wealth migration specialists Henley & Partners in collaboration with the global data intelligence firm New World Wealth.

U.S. cities occupy 11 of the Top 50 rankings in this year’s World Wealthiest Cities list, with New York City securing the number one position. The Big Apple’s wealthiest residents have a total wealth of $3 trillion – higher than the total wealth held in most major G20 countries – and a population that includes 349,500 millionaires, 744 centi-millionaires (with investable wealth of over $100 million), and 60 billionaires.

Northern California’s Bay Area, encompassing San Francisco and Silicon Valley, placed second on the list, with a millionaire population that soared by 82% over the past decade – this market is now home to 305,700 millionaires, 675 centi-millionaires, and 68 billionaires.

Tokyo placed third on the list, even though the Japanese capital recorded a 5% decline in its resident high-net-worth-individual population over the past 10 years and is home to a mere 298,300 millionaires, 267 centi-millionaires and 14 billionaires. The city-state Singapore placed fourth thanks to a 64% increase in millionaires over the past 10 years to expand its super-wealthy population to 244,800 resident millionaires, 336 centi-millionaires, and 30 billionaires. London’s fifth place ranking encompassed 227,000 millionaires, 370 centi-millionaires, and 35 billionaires – a 10% decline over the past decade.

No Latin American or African city made the top 50 list, and only two Middle Eastern cities were included – Dubai in 21st place and Tel Aviv in 47th place.

But while New York City was crowned as the wealthiest city, it placed second in a separate list of the World’s Most Expensive Cities. The European principality Monaco topped that list, with apartment prices regularly exceeding $35,000 per square meter. New York City ranked second with the average price of prime real estate being $28,400 per square meter, followed by London ($26,500 per square meter), Hong Kong ($25,800 per square meter) and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France ($25,000 per square meter).

Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, observed that seven of the top 10 wealthiest cities are in countries that host investment migration programs that actively encourage foreign direct investment in return for residence or citizenship rights.

“You can secure the right to live, work, study, and invest in leading international wealth hubs such as New York, Singapore, Sydney, Vienna, and Dubai via investment,” Volek said. “Being able to relocate yourself, your family, or your business to a more favorable city or have the option to choose between multiple different cities across the world is an increasingly important aspect of international wealth and legacy planning for private clients. The more jurisdictions a family can access, the more diversified its assets, the lower its exposure to country-specific and regional risks, and the greater the opportunities they can enjoy. Likewise, cities and countries can use investment migration as an innovative financing mechanism to attract the world’s wealthiest and most talented to their shores.”