Which Cities Have The Most Ultra-Rich?
It’s official, according to research firm Wealth-X New York no longer has the largest population of ultra-rich folks. As this Bloomberg piece reports, Hong Kong now has the distinction of having the highest number of people worth at least $30 million. That means there are about 10,000 people in Hong Kong worth that much money, compared to “only” about 9,000 people in New York City worth the same.
Since I like numbers, the graphic above bugged me a bit. The populations of these respective cities are all over the map, so I decided to even the playing field by running the numbers per capita. I mean some of these cities can surely out-brute others by their sheer size.
Aha!! Just as I suspected. My almost-home city Washington D.C. is at the top of the list. And if you look at the number of politicians in each of these cities per-capita you’ll find… oh wait…
I jest, but also not.
I mean, Washington D.C. is chock full of rich politicians for sure, but also corporate lawyers, lobbyists, and power players.
So the population of Washington D.C. is 693,972, and the Wealth-X report found that there are 2700 people worth more than $30 million living in D.C.. That means 1 in every 257 people you walk by in Washington D.C. is an “ultra-rich”.
Asia continues to rise in collective wealth, and according to the report its share of the global population of people with at least $30 million rose to just over one-fourth, up from around 18 percent a decade ago.
Other interesting facts:
- On the good news front, women accounted for close to 14 percent of the ultra-rich, a record high.
- China is home to 26 of the 30 fastest-growing cities for the ultra-rich.
- Every region in the world saw gains and world real GDP expanded at its fastest pace since 2011.
- The ultra-rich held more of their wealth – 35 percent – in liquid assets such as cash than anything else
There’s no doubt we’ll see more and more Chinese and Asian cities populate this list going forward.
And in a couple of weeks we’ll see Orlando Florida temporarily have an over sized number of ultra-rich (or ultra-rich wannabees at least) as FINCON 2018 descends on the city. Get your billfolds ready!!
That is quite impressive that 1 in every 257 in DC is worth 30 million or more. That ratio would be dramatically lower where I live. Interesting data and I agree that Asia is trending way up and should rise in the ranks quickly.
Asia will continue to rise fast for sure
Very interesting stuff. And 1 in every 257 people you walk by in D.C.? Sounds correct. You didn’t say that 1 person would be walking. You’ll probably be walking, while they are gliding by in a chauffeured luxury car.
Ha, so true!
1 in every 257 people actually isn’t that crazy when you think about it haha. That essentially means I can look out my window right now in Arlington and expect 1 of those little ants (I mean people) down below is worth over $30 million.
Kind of crazy when I think about it!
I guess that means I should probably expedite my goal of moving away from D.C. and heading south ASAP???
Cool post!
Yes, expedite!
Hmmmm now I’m curious how Seattle stacks up *off to go check*
Okay – where do you think I could find that information? Unfortunately Bloomberg doesn’t seem to have a link to the full study that would show other cities. Total curiosity here 🙂
I’m at fincon now Angela so don’t have time to look for it, but the wealth X report like you said did not give details to the sources of their information. My guess is it’s probably proprietary data, or something that they had to pay money for
That is definitely information that companies like Bloomberg charge for. I work for one of Bloomberg’s competitors, and we do. I know they do, as I know some of the folks there who collect that data.
Thanks for that confirmation!
Very interesting shit, my friend. I don’t know what to do with it (invest in Asia?), but it made me happy. This was porn for money nerds.
I’d like to think I’m not in the porn industry, but now I’ll have to reconsider….
Thought you might like this little bit of data that came up on a podcast I was watching yesterday
https://howmuch.net/articles/income-inequality-by-state
Thanks for that link Chris, will definitely take a look at that data when I get home!
Interesting data. I’m surprised cities like Singapore, Monte Carlo, and Shanghai were not on there!
Great meeting you at FinCon!
I was surprised Singapore wasn’t on there as well. And it was great meeting you too Doc!
I like that ran “the numbers per capita“ since that provided a more accurate depiction of which cities have the most ultra-rich as it compares to its population. I also like that I don’t see the city of Atlanta on either of the two lists.
Glad you liked it. It’s up to you to add one more to Atlanta’s numbers 😉
The other thing you have to consider is how much time those folks are in those places. When you have that level of resources, you have the option of having many homes. You can live anywhere you want. I also wonder about the suburbs. Hong Kong effectively has none due to it’s history. DC, NY, and the other cities do. I wonder how including the suburbs would change those numbers. For instance, since I know the rich areas of NY, if you included say Tuxedo Park, NY. What about Fairfield County, in CT? Westchester county in NY, and of course most of Long Island to include the uber rich Hamptons all have to have a lot of folks at $30 mill and up. I am sure many other cities do as well, but I don’t know them!
ALL excellent points! And D.C. is probably the most transient city in America. Very few D.C. residents are actually from D.C., they come here for a job and often only stay a relatively short period of time. Make your money, get sick of the traffic, and then leave. I often lose friends as fast as I make them here because they take off to another location.
It would be interesting to see how many are in the House and Senate. That’s a great place to increase your net worth on taxpayer dollars.
Ha! I sense some sarcasm 😉
That’s pretty neat. I didn’t know DC has so many ultra rich people. Paris is interesting too.
D.C. is soooo loaded with money it’s nuts. I haven’t been to Paris in about ten years but I do remember some very wealthy sections.
You DC folks apparently got it going on. Not just politicians but also FIRE bloggers.
We’re waiting for the first FIRE blogger to reach 30 million!