Top 10 Wealthiest Cities in the World 2024

The top 10 wealthiest cities are as follows: 

• New York City
• Tokyo
• The Bay Area (San Francisco and Silicon Valley)
• London
• Singapore
• Los Angeles
• Hong Kong
• Beijing
• Shanghai
• Sydney

The list tracks cities with residents that have an investable wealth of at least US$1 million. This year’s results saw the US dominate 10 places in the top 50 while China followed behind with five and Australia had four. Looking at the numbers more closely, California’s Bay Area has the highest concentration of billionaires at 63 individuals then trailing behind are New York, Beijing and Los Angeles.

In Asia, Tokyo ranks number one with about 290K millionaires but this number was a slight dip of 5 per cent between 2012 and 2022. Another interesting point is the relatively low number of billionaires in the Japan’s capital. At only 14 individuals, it is telling of the wealth distribution in the city where it is evenly spread with the middle classes and lower-tier millionaires. On the other hand, Singapore saw a 40 per cent influx of HNWI thanks to its business-friendly landscape and stable political climate. The city-state is the top choice for family offices and the government estimates that around 700 of these private organisations have set up offices in Singapore. In contrast, Hong Kong, a city that has been compared to Singapore, has the third largest number of wealthy people in Asia.

The majority of the cities that ranked highest on the list have programmes designed to facilitate the transfer of funds and promote foreign investment, in return for residency or citizenship rights. The ability to move oneself, one’s family, or one’s business to a more advantageous location, or to have the choice of multiple residences worldwide, is becoming a crucial factor in private clients’ international wealth and legacy planning.