More millionaires call the Big Apple home than any other city in the world.
New York had the largest population of high-net-worth individuals, whose net worth in assets totals between $1 million and $30 million, according to a report released Wednesday by global wealth consultancy Wealth-X. Some 978,810 high-net-worth, or HNW, individuals reside in New York. That’s nearly double the HNW population of Tokyo (593,025 individuals), which came in at No. 2 on Wealth-X’s ranking.
New York has more high-net-worth individuals than any other city in the world, and it also has the largest population of ultrawealthy people. The latter group comprises those with assets exceeding $30 million.
Not only does New York have more HNW individuals than any other city in the world, but it also has the largest population of ultrawealthy people, defined as those who have assets worth more than $30 million. It regains this distinction after losing the title to Hong Kong in 2017. However, the tenuous relationship between the U.S. and China roiled the wealthy elite in Hong Kong, causing the HNW population there to drop by more than 11% last year.
Wealth-X’s findings were based on its proprietary database of HNW individuals, which includes information such as the individuals’ financial assets, career histories, family backgrounds and philanthropic endeavors, among other data points.
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Overall, America had six of the top 10 HNW cities, per Wealth-X’s list. Dallas–Fort Worth, which has seen its wealth grow thanks in part to the strong energy sector, entered the list for the first time this year.
Here is how the full rankings shook out:
• New York (978,810 HNW individuals, down 0.6% from 2017)
• Tokyo (593,025 HNW individuals, down 3.3% from 2017)
• Los Angeles (576,255 HNW individuals, down 0.7% from 2017)
• Hong Kong (391,595 HNW individuals, down 11.1% from 2017)
• London (372,270 HNW individuals, up 2.7% from 2017)
• Chicago (353,775 HNW individuals, down 0.8% from 2017)
• Paris (345,175 HNW individuals, up 4.5% from 2017)
• San Francisco (314,055 HNW individuals, down 0.4% from 2017)
• Washington, D.C. (301,495 HNW individuals, down 1.3% from 2017)
• Dallas (298,220 HNW individuals, up 0.1% from 2017)
While the list of cities with the wealthiest populations may not appear diverse today, that could soon change. China boasts 32 of 40 fastest-growing HNW cities in the world currently, according to Wealth-X. “There is still no representation in the top 10 from China, whose largest city for UHNW and HNW is Shanghai, with 123,000 HNW individuals,” the report noted. “But this belies the meteoric growth.”
Nigeria has the fastest-growing high-net-worth population in the world, with the number of residents there worth $1 million to $30 million expected to increase 16.3% by 2023.
Moreover, the concentration of extremely wealthy individuals in certain cities could be simply a reflection of different cultural approaches to wealth. “London and Paris are the European representatives in the top 10, with nucleated concentrations of HNW in their capital cities, in contrast to a more distributed pattern of wealth, for example, in German cities,” the report’s authors wrote.
Indeed, while the U.S. does have the world’s largest HNW population, China ranks second, followed by a wide assortment of countries including Japan, Germany, South Korea and Australia. And Nigeria has the fastest-growing high-net-worth population in the world, with the number of residents there worth $1 million to $30 million expected to increase 16.3% by 2023.