3 US cities drawing more millionaires with lower taxes, cheaper homes, and shorter commutes
Dan Latu
- Consulting firm Henley & Partners identified 3 US cities with huge potential for wealth growth.
- They have faster growth in millionaire residents, said Henley, which advises the wealthy on moving.
New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago may no longer hold the same sway for millionaires and billionaires anymore, according to consulting firm Henley & Partners.
Instead a "millionaire remix" is underway, according to the firm, in which increasing numbers of wealthy people are choosing destinations farther away from the economic centers that once dominated.
"Cities such as Austin, Miami, and Scottsdale are gaining residents, while traditional hubs such as Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago experience modest declines," wrote Henley & Partners managing partner Mehdi Kadiri.
Henley & Partners, a London-based firm that advises wealthy people on moving and citizenship, tracks the movements of high-net-worth individuals using data from wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth.
Alongside its new ranking of the world's wealthiest cities — ones with the most millionaire and billionaire residents — Henley & Partners also highlighted smaller spots poised for significant wealth growth in 2024 and beyond.
Take Scottsdale, Arizona, a city just outside Phoenix, prized for its resort-like homes and amenities, including golf courses, which come at a fraction of the cost of nearby California.
Two other cities with fast-growing wealthy populations — Palm Beach, Florida, and the posh Connecticut suburbs of Greenwich and Darien — attract finance types. Lower taxes and quality-of-life improvements may also motivate high-net-worth individuals to move.
The numbers of wealthy residents in these cities might be smaller than in the major hubs, but their rate of growth is much higher. New York, for example, has 349,500 millionaires, according to Henley & Partners, while Scottsdale only has 14,500. However, the number of millionaires in Scottsdale grew 102% from 2013 to 2023, while New York's millionaire population went up 48% over the same period.
Here's a look at the three American locations Henley & Partners projected will boom with wealthy residents in the coming years.
Scottsdale, Arizona
Number of millionaires: 14,500
Number of centi-millionaires (over $100 million): 63
Number of billionaires: 5
Millionaire growth from 2013 to 2023: 102%
Wealthy residents include: GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons, basketball legend Charles Barkley, and NASCAR driver Danica Patrick
Why it's booming: In Scottsdale, one in every 17 residents is a millionaire, according to Henley & Partners. Business Insider reporter Joey Hadden visited Scottsdale and found out why. The city offers a "luxury desert" experience, she said, with numerous golf courses, mansions with mountain views, and perfectly manicured landscapes.
The area has attracted Californians seeking an escape from pricey real estate and high taxes, but still looking for year-round sunny weather.
In fact, Maricopa County, where Scottsdale is located, welcomed an average of 1,127 residents a year from Santa Clara County in California, where Silicon Valley is located, between 2011 and 2015, according to census data. That number jumped 38% to 1,555 California-to-Arizona movers a year between 2016 and 2020.
Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, Florida
Number of millionaires: 10,200
Number of centi-millionaires (over $100 million): 69
Number of billionaires: 9
Millionaire growth from 2013 to 2023: 93%
Wealthy residents include: Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson, and investor Charles Schwab
Why it's booming: Palm Beach has long been a bastion of old money popular with the golf-and-croquet set, but the recent uptick in migration of tech and finance companies, executives, and employees to Florida further bolstered its profile as a destination for the well-heeled. Motivations include lower taxes and better weather.
In 2022, tech tycoon Larry Ellison purchased a Palm Beach estate for $173 million, setting a state record for the most expensive home ever sold. Rumors are spreading that Citadel CEO Ken Griffin plans to build the most expensive home on earth in Palm Beach — a $1 billion compound built on properties he's snatched up over 27 acres, according to the New York Post.
Greenwich and Darien, Connecticut
Number of millionaires: 12,500
Number of centi-millionaires (over $100 million): 120
Number of billionaires: 10
Millionaire growth from 2013 to 2023: 84%
Wealthy residents include: Mets owner and hedge funder Steve Cohen, WWE's former CEO Vince McMahon, and Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio
Why it's booming: Many hedge funds relocated to Connecticut well before the pandemic to cut down on executives' and employees' commute times to New York City. But the pandemic-fueled remote-work boom, which accelerated the migration of wealthy Manhattan residents to the Connecticut suburbs, continues to reshape hubs of economic activity.
During the summer of 2020, Connecticut homes that were previously sitting on the market for months started to get snatched up overnight, sometimes sight unseen. Between 2013 and 2023, the millionaire population of Greenwich and Darien grew by 84%, to about 12,500, according to Henley & Partners.
According to Bloomberg, more financial-services and investment firms have set up shop in the "sleepy" town of Darien, about an hour by train from Midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile, some New York office towers sit empty.
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