Whenever the stock market fluctuates wildly in any direction you’ll read about people’s fortunes changing in a single day by what most of us will not make in a lifetime. Despite the wealth we can hardly understand, these billionaires do not each live on their own private island. In fact, most are in major cities around the world, often close to their business interests. The map below shows the hometowns of the world’s richest, according to the annual Forbes list.
View Cities with the Most Billionaires in a full screen map
This map may look a little different than the usual list you expect from Forbes. Where are Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Warren Buffett, and others? They live in cities that are otherwise unpopular with their fellow billionaires. In fact, Forbes notes that these 20 cities are home to more than one-third of the world’s billionaires. But that leaves 1,181 of the richest that live elsewhere.
Gates lives in the Seattle, Washington, area, which does not have the 14 other billionaires, so his hometown misses this map, as does Slim’s Mexico City, and Buffett’s Lincoln, Nebraska. The cities that do make this map are internationally recognizable, from New York City (#1, 78 billionaires) to Jakarta (#20, 15 billionaires).
New York is to be expected, long the center of the world’s financial markets. Its counterpart across the Atlantic, London, is #4, with 46 billionaires. Between the two are the emerging powerhouses of Moscow (68) and Hong Kong (64). Rounding out the top five is Beijing (45), nipping at London’s heals.
The representatives from those cities may be faces you’re less familiar with. Certainly the Koch brothers of New York are perennial top 10s. But have you heard of Murat Ülker? The owner of a Turkish food conglomerate, Ülker has a net worth of $4.4 billion and a Wikipedia page with a biography of fewer than 100 words.
Similarly, Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz does not have the household name of Mark Zuckerberg, but Moskovitz is the richest person in San Francisco. Here is the full list of the top 20 cities that the rich call home, along with the most affluent resident.
| Rank | City | Billionaires | Richest | Net worth | Source |
| 1 | New York, New York | 78 | David Koch | $42.9 B | diversified |
| 2 | Moscow, Russia | 68 | Vladimir Potanin | $15.4 B | metals |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 64 | Li Ka-shing | $33.3 B | diversified |
| 4 | London, United Kingdom | 46 | Len Blavatnik | $20.2 B | diversified |
| 5 | Beijing, China | 45 | Wang Jianlin | $24.2 B | real estate |
| 6 | Mumbai, India | 33 | Mukesh Ambani | $21 B | petrochemicals, oil & gas |
| 7 | Seoul, South Korea | 29 | Lee Kun-Hee | $11.3 B | electronics/insurance |
| 8 | Istanbul, Turkey | 28 | Murat Ulker | $4.4 B | food manufacturing |
| 9 | Paris, France | 27 | Liliane Bettencourt & family | $40.1 B | L’Oreal |
| 10 | San Francisco, California | 26 | Dustin Moskovitz | $7.9 B | Facebook |
| 11 | Sao Paul, Brazil | 25 | Jorge Paulo Lemann | $25 B | beer |
| 11 | Shenzhen, China | 25 | Ma Huateng | $16.1 B | internet media |
| 13 | Taipei, Taiwan | 24 | Terry Gou | $6.1 B | electronics |
| 14 | Los Angeles, California | 22 | Patrick Soon-Shiong | $12.2 B | pharmaceuticals |
| 14 | Singapore | 22 | Robert & Philip Ng | $9.6 B | real estate |
| 16 | Shanghai, China | 19 | Tsai Eng-Meng | $8.9 B | food, beverages |
| 17 | Delhi, India | 17 | Shiv Nadar | $14.8 B | information technology |
| 18 | Dallas, Texas | 16 | Andrew Beal | $11.7 B | banks, real estate |
| 18 | Tokyo, Japan | 16 | Tadashi Yanai & family | $20.2 B | retail |
| 20 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 15 | Chairul Tanjung | $4.3 B | diversified |
If you’d like to see the ways to visualize the data above on BatchGeo, you can create a map like the one above by simply copying the figures above into our map making tool. Or keep exploring money makers with this map of US incomes, though you’ll find those numbers a bit smaller than the billionaires discussed above.
FAQs
Ever wondered where the world's wealthiest individuals live? According to a recent report by the London-based citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners, most live in the U.S. -- in New York City, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles.
Where do extremely rich people live? ›
Ranked: Top 20 Cities with the Most Billionaires in 2024
| Rank | City | Billionaires |
|---|
| 1 | 🇺🇸 New York | 119 |
| 2 | 🇬🇧 London | 97 |
| 3 | 🇮🇳 Mumbai | 92 |
| 4 | 🇨🇳 Beijing | 91 |
16 more rowsMar 8, 2024
DATA IS AS OF MARCH 8, 2024.
- New York City. Total billionaires: 110 | Since last year: +9 | Total net worth: $694 billion | Richest resident: Michael Bloomberg ($106 billion) ...
- (tie) Moscow. ...
- (tie) Hong Kong. ...
- Mumbai. ...
- Beijing. ...
- London. ...
- Shanghai. ...
- Los Angeles.
Ever wondered where the world's wealthiest individuals live? According to a recent report by the London-based citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners, most live in the U.S. -- in New York City, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles.
Where are the super wealthy buying homes? ›
The best-performing luxury real estate market in the world was Manila, Philippines, with 26% growth, fueled in part by investors fleeing Hong Kong and China. Dubai came in second place, at 16% price growth, followed by the Bahamas at 15% and the Algarve region in Portugal at 12%.
Where do most billionaires live USA? ›
California — 186 billionaires. New York — 135 billionaires. Florida — 78 billionaires. Texas — 73 billionaires.
Where do the ultra rich live in the US? ›
A new report found that New York City is the No. 1 place for ultra-high-net-worth individuals to own a property. A version of this article first appeared in CNBC's Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer.
Which US city has the most millionaires? ›
1. New York City. Of all the cities in the US, it's little surprise that the Big Apple has the most millionaires. New York City had 349,500 as of December, a jump of 48% compared to 2013, the Henley and Partners' report said.
What state has the most millionaires? ›
American states with highest ratio of millionaire households per capita in 2020
| Characteristic | Ratio of millionaire households per capita |
|---|
| California | 8.51% |
| New Hampshire | 8.47% |
| Virginia | 8.31% |
| Alaska | 8.18% |
9 more rowsFeb 2, 2024
Types of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs)
More than $30 million in wealth classifies a person as an ultra-HNWI. The very-high-net-worth individual (VHNWI) classification can refer to someone with a net worth of at least $5 million.
In 2019, Mississippi had the lowest ratio of millionaire households per capita in the country, with only 4.18 percent of households holding over one million U.S. dollars in assets.
What do 90% of the world's millionaires have in common? ›
Real estate investing has played a role in helping to create 90% of the world's millionaires. Real estate is one of the most effective wealth building vehicles and is an important component of a well-diversified portfolio.
What state is best for millionaires? ›
List
| Rank | State | Share of millionaire households |
|---|
| 1 | California | 8.51% |
| 2 | Texas | 6.32% |
| 3 | New York | 7.52% |
| 4 | Florida | 5.87% |
47 more rowsA recent survey by WSJ Intelligence of more than 2,200 wealthy individuals found a majority planned to finance their next home purchase. Only 39% of the respondents—whose net worth averaged $4.76 million—planned to pay cash, according to the survey released in late September.
Where do the elite live? ›
A third of the world's centi-millionaire population resides in 50 key cities, with 9,730 (38%) living in the U.S.2 New York City boasts 775 resident centi-millionaires, while the San Francisco Bay Area is home to 692, followed by Los Angeles with 504, the Henley & Partners report said.
Where do most rich people go for vacation? ›
Justin Crabbe, travel expert and founder of private charter jet company Jettly, said, “The very wealthy are drawn to private islands in regions like the Caribbean and French Polynesia, particularly celebrities who want complete privacy.”
What city do billionaires live best in? ›
Top 10 Indian cities where self-made billionaires live
- IANS. 4/11. Gurugram. ...
- PTI. 5/11. New Delhi. ...
- PTI. 6/11. Chennai. ...
- Agencies. 7/11. Pune. ...
- PTI. 8/11. Hyderabad. ...
- Agencies. 9/11. Ahmedabad. ...
- ANI. 10/11. Jaipur. ...
- Agencies. 11/11. Noida. Noida is at 10th position with 4 self-made billionaires.
Where do rich people live in manhattan? The most expensive areas of New York are NoHo, Hudson Yards, Tribeca, Central Park South, and Nolita. The average sales price in these areas exceeds $3 million. As you might expect, most wealthy New Yorkers live in Manhattan.
