While some wealthy residents have left New York City for lower-tax destinations like Florida, the Big Apple still reigns supreme as the world’s wealthiest metro area. A new report by immigration consultancy Henley & Partners reveals that New York has a staggering $3 trillion in total private wealth held by its citizens. The city boasts nearly 350,000 millionaires, up 48% over the last decade, giving it the highest millionaire population of any city globally. Approximately one in every 24 New York residents is a millionaire, compared to just one in 36 a decade ago. The city’s concentration of ultra-high-net-worth individuals is also unmatched – it has 60 billionaires and 744 people worth over $100 million.
This wealth has been bolstered by strong gains in financial markets in recent years. Global equities surged 20% in 2022 and are up nearly 7% so far this year, benefiting New York’s position as the U.S. financial capital. However, the city has seen some of its wealthiest residents decamp to lower-tax states like Florida during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 91,000 New York residents relocated to Florida in 2022 alone as part of a larger migration of over 545,000 people leaving the state that year.
This trend has fueled a rise of “Wall Street South” in Florida, with major hedge funds like billionaire Carl Icahn’s and Paul Singer’s Elliott Management relocating headquarters to the Miami and West Palm Beach areas since 2020. In total, 160 Wall Street firms have moved out of New York in recent years, 56 of them to Florida, taking a combined $1 trillion in assets under management. The impact has been felt in South Florida’s luxury real estate and clubs, with golf memberships doubling or tripling in price. Miami now ranks 33rd globally for its millionaire population, up 78% over 10 years. Still, New York’s position at the top remains unmatched for now. Following it are the Silicon Valley region with 305,700 millionaires, Tokyo, Singapore, a fading London, Los Angeles, Paris, Sydney, Hong Kong and fast-growing Beijing.