The World’s Wealthiest Cities In 2025

London, Tuesday 8 April 2025

The US continues to dominate, with 11 cities on the Top 50 Cities for Millionaires list in the latest World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025 ranking, led by New York in 1st place with 384,500 high-net-worth individuals (including 818 resident centi-millionaires, or ‘centis’, with liquid investable wealth of USD 100 million or more, and 66 billionaires). This, according to the 4th edition of the annual report published by international wealth and investment migration specialists Henley & Partners in collaboration with global data intelligence firm New World Wealth. Notably, the Bay Area, which includes the city of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, in 2nd place with 342,400 resident millionaires, is now home to more billionaires (82) than the Big Apple and continues to thrive as the epicenter of technological wealth creation, enjoying exceptional millionaire growth of 98% over the past decade. 

Of the Top 50 cities, only Shenzhen (in 28th place, with 142% millionaire growth, and now home to 50,800 millionaires), Hangzhou (35th, with 108% growth and 32,200 millionaires), and Dubai (18th with 102%) grew faster than the Bay Area between 2014 and 2024. Dubai (which now boasts 81,200 resident millionaires, including 237 centis and 20 billionaires) also takes the prize for the biggest climber in the Top 50 over the past year, moving from 21st to 18th place. Seoul is the biggest faller, dropping to 24th place from 19th last year.

Tokyo, fueled by a strong recovery of the Nikkei 225 over the past two years, solidifies its position in 3rd place with 292,300 millionaires in residence, followed by Singapore in 4th place with 242,400 millionaires. 

London and Moscow are the biggest losers

Los Angeles (220,600 millionaires, including 516 centis and 45 billionaires) has now overtaken London to claim the 5thspot, pushing the UK capital out of the Top 5 to 6th place with just 215,700 millionaires (including 352 centi-millionaires and 33 billionaires). London and Moscow (which ranks 40th, with 30,000 millionaires, including 178 centis and 23 billionaires) are the only two cities in the Top 50 that have recorded negative growth over the past decade, with their millionaire populations declining by -12% and -25%, respectively. 

Paris (160,100 millionaires) clings onto 7th place, while Hong Kong (154,900 millionaires), now in 8th position, usurps Sydney (152,900 millionaires) and pushes it down into 9th place. Chicago (127,100) leapfrogs over both Beijing (which has dropped two places since last year, from 10th to 12th, now with 114,300 millionaires) and Shanghai (down three places from 11th to 14th with 110,500 millionaires) to claim a place in the Top 10 for the first time. Milan (11th with 115,000 millionaires), Vancouver (29th with 46,400), Miami (32nd with 38,800), Hangzhou (35th with 32,200), Taipei City (38th with 31,400), and Washington DC (41st with 28,900) also all move up the Top 50 Cities for Millionaires list. Meanwhile, Lisbon (50th with 22,200 millionaires) has made its debut this year, with Auckland dropping out.

Dr. Juerg Steffen, CEO of Henley & Partners, says a clear pattern is emerging in 2025: cities that blend investment freedom with lifestyle dividends are winning the competition for mobile capital. “These urban centers share common DNA — robust legal frameworks, sophisticated financial infrastructure, and perhaps most critically, investment migration programs that welcome global talent and capital. Seven of the Top 10 wealthiest cities are in countries with residence by investment programs, creating direct pathways for entrepreneurs and investors seeking access to these wealth hubs.”

Fastest growing wealth hubs over the past decade

Besides Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Dubai, other cities on the World’s Fastest Growing Wealth Hubs list which have more than doubled their resident millionaire populations over the past 10 years, include US cities Scottsdale (+125% growth) and West Palm Beach (+112%) and the “Silicon Valley of India”, Bengaluru (+120%). Three other American cities — Miami (+94%) whose residents enjoy Florida’s low state taxes, the US capital Washington DC (+92%), and Austin (+90%), dubbed “Silicon Hills” — have also seen notably high growth between 2014 and 2024, as have Polish capital Warsaw (+83% in resident millionaires), Emirati capital Abu Dhabi (+80%), and Riyadh (+65%), the capital city of Saudi Arabia. 

Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, explains that many of these cities are popular destinations for migrating millionaires, while others are rising tech hubs. “Asia’s top tech hub, Shenzhen is the base city for global tech giants Huawei, Tencent, BYD, DJI and ZTE and has experienced especially strong wealth growth over the past 20 years. It is now arguably the world’s leading city in a number of key tech sub-sectors including computer hardware, electric vehicles, Wi-Fi dongles, mobile phones, flying drones, 5G, energy units and electronics.”

Centi city hotspots over the next decade

Looking beyond the established wealth centers, the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025 also benchmarks wealth in over 100 Centi-Millionaire Hotspots worldwide, with a special spotlight on cities with high growth potential over the next decade (2025 to 2035) to reveal the emerging new geography of super-wealth.

Dubai (currently home to 237 centis) and Abu Dhabi (75 resident centis) lead the pack of anticipated high growth centers, with both Emirati cities projected to see their centi-millionaire populations more than double over the next 10 years. This Middle East wealth shift reflects the region’s strategic pivot towards becoming global financial centers, combined with zero income and capital gains taxes.

Explosive 100%+ growth is also forecast for Delhi (125 centi-millionaires) and Bengaluru (43), signaling the maturation of India’s tech ecosystem and the emergence of a new generation of digital entrepreneurs. Similar trajectories are expected in fast growing European centers like Warsaw (32 centis) and Athens (42 centis), with the Greek capital being boosted by strong inward wealth migration.

Particularly notable are smaller cities providing targeted investment migration pathways, which enable wealthy investors to acquire residence rights in return for making a substantial investment. St. Julian’s and Sliema in Malta (40 centis), Lugano in Switzerland (40 centis), and Latvia’s Riga & Jūrmala (11 centis)  all are forecast to see 100%+ growth rates in their centi-millionaire populations by 2035. 

The future geography of elite wealth

As Dominic Volek, Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, points out, the concentration of 100%+ growth forecasts in cities offering residence and citizenship by investment programs is no coincidence. “The world’s centi-millionaires are increasingly designing their geographical footprints with the same strategic care they apply to their investment portfolios — diversifying their presence across multiple jurisdictions to mitigate risk while maximizing opportunity. Formal investment migration pathways create systematic entry routes into these rapidly developing regions, enabling forward-looking individuals to situate themselves and their family members within environments designed for both safeguarding and multiplying personal wealth.”

While no African or Central American cities make it into the world’s Top 50 Cities for Millionaires, the report identifies numerous rising stars that are projected to more than double their resident centi-millionaire populations over the next 10 years. George Town and Seven Mile Beach in the Cayman Islands (currently home to 40 centis), San José & Santa Ana (17 centis) in Costa Rica, St. George’s Parish (25 centis) and Hamilton Parish (22 centis) in Bermuda, Monterrey (10) in Mexico, Panama City (21 centis), South Africa’s Cape Town (34 centis), Morocco’s Marrakesh (14 centis), and Kenya’s Nairobi (10 centis) are all forecast to see +100% growth in their super-wealthy communities before 2035. 

Most expensive cities in the world 

Monaco, arguably the world’s top safe-haven for the super-rich, where the average wealth exceeds USD 20 million, is also the top-ranked city in the world on a wealth per capita basis. Over 40% of the Mediterranean principality’s residents are millionaires — the highest ratio of any city globally. It is also top of the World’s Most Expensive Cities list, with prime 100 to 200 m2 apartment prices regularly exceeding USD 38,800 per m2. 

New York City ranks 2nd, with the average price of prime real estate being USD 27,500 per m2, followed by Hong Kong (USD 26,300 per m2) and London (USD 24,000 per m2). Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France (USD 21,200 per m2) holds onto 5th place with Paris (USD 20,400 per m2) usurping Sydney (USD 19,500 per m2) to take the 6th spot. 

In fact, France boasts the most cities/towns (six including Paris, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Nice, Cannes, Antibes, and Èze) on this year’s World’s Most Expensive Cities list followed by the US (four including New York City, LA, Palm Beach, and Miami Beach), while Switzerland (Geneva and Lugano) and Italy (Portofino and Porto Cervo) each have two on the latest ranking.  

Read the full World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025.

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