World’s 20 wealthiest cities, ranked: New York, Tokyo and San Francisco are home to more millionaires and billionaires than anywhere – but Dubai, Mumbai and Shenzhen are catching up fast
- The Henley Global Citizens Report places London fourth and Singapore fifth on its ranking of resident UHNWIs, with Beijing at ninth – just ahead of Shanghai
- Top-placed New York is home to 59 billionaires and the world’s most expensive residential real estate – Hong Kong slips down to 12th behind Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston
Ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) aspiring to live among their ilk now have a handy guide to help them decide. The latest “Henley Global Citizens Report”, jointly presented by global residence and citizenship planning firm Henley & Partners and wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth, lists not only the wealthiest cities in the world for 2022, but extrapolates to those of the future.
The research also reveals the fastest-growing cities in terms of millionaire growth in the six months to June 2022.
It comes as no surprise that the US dominates, with six American cities among the top 20: New York in top spot, San Francisco Bay Area in third, then Los Angeles (sixth), Chicago (seventh) and Houston (eighth), with Dallas also making the cut.
But Dubai, Mumbai and Shenzhen are on the ascent, and are expected to break into the top 20 by 2030.
A decade ago, Hong Kong was Asia-Pacific’s second wealthiest city after Tokyo, but has since been overtaken by Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney
The Big Apple on top of the heap
Interpreting the data, Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, says that in holding the crown as the wealthiest city on earth, New York’s property is also among the priciest.
“The Big Apple is home to 345,600 millionaires, including 737 centi-millionaires [with wealth of US$100 million or more], and 59 billionaires,” he said. “New York is the financial centre of the USA and the wealthiest city in the world by several measures. Perhaps most notably, total private wealth held by the city’s residents exceeds US$3 trillion – higher than the total private wealth held in most major G20 countries.”
Manhattan in New York City boasts some of the world’s most exclusive residential streets, including Fifth Avenue where prime flat prices can exceed US$28,000 per square metre (US$301,000 per sq ft), Amoils noted.
However, several affluent commuter towns just outside New York City – such as Greenwich, Great Neck, Sands Point and Old Westbury – also harbour a large amount of top-tier wealth. “If these towns were included in our New York City figures,” Amoils said, “then billionaire numbers in the combined city would exceed 120.”
A comparison between home prices can be tricky because these commuter towns don’t tend to have flats, Amoils said, adding: “They all have a large number of US$5 million-plus homes and mansions though.”