Surveys

Most Of America's Ultra-Rich Reside In New York, New Study Finds

Vanessa Doctor 19 October 2011

Most Of America's Ultra-Rich Reside In New York, New Study Finds

New York tops the list of US cities with the most number of ultra high net worth individuals, a recent study by Wealth-X shows.

The New York metropolitan area leads the top 10 list with 7,720 ultra-wealty individuals, or those with a net worth of at least $30 million when accounting for shares in public and private companies, residential and investment properties, art collections, planes, cash and other investible assets. 

Los Angeles came second with 4,350 ultra-wealthy indviduals, followed by San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Houston and Dallas. Atlanta, Boston and Seattle made the list but have less than 1,000 UHNW individuals. The Wealth-X study considered only the primary residences of the individuals covered as many UHNW people own vacation homes in various cities. 

The total number of ultra high net worth individuals in the US has been estimated at 57,860, with 13 per cent of these living in New York. By contrast, the same area holds just 6 per cent of the country's total population. In short, there is an overrepresentation of the ultra-wealthy in the New York metro area.

In 2010, the state of New York posted the second highest gross domestic product growth rate, at 5.1 per cent, while the unemployment rate improved year-over-year, from 9.3 per cent to 8.7 per cent.

"A concentration of UHNW individuals is indicative of an area's overall economic health. Identifying major cities where they reside will help professionals within the wealth management industry, luxury brands and not-for-profits make a focused and tailored approach to their target market," said David Friedman, the co-founder of Wealth-X. 

The study is Wealth-X's first UHNW city ranking. 

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