The 15 cities around the world with the most billionaires, ranked

By: Madeline Berg

20 November 2024 at 06:50

NYC skyline — New York City is home to 144 billionaires, more than nearly every country in the world.
Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Nearly one-third of the world's billionaires live in just 15 cities, a new Altrata study says.
New York City is home to the largest population of the world's uberwealthy.
Chinese hubs saw their billionaire populations fall as the country battles a weak economy.

For all the talk about the ultrawealthy escaping New York or San Francisco for Jackson Hole and Palm Beach, it turns out billionaires like to stay put — and stick together.

According to Altrata's 2024 Billionaire Census, which examined the high net worth population, 28% of the world's billionaires live in just 15 cities. All of these were also among the most popular for billionaires to live in last year, and most saw their concentration of very rich residents increase.

New York City maintained its position as the city with the most billionaires. The financial capital, which also saw the biggest growth in billionaire residents, has more of them than nearly every country on Earth, apart from the US, China, and Germany.

The three Chinese cities on the list (Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou) and Hong Kong experienced declines in their billionaire population due to the region's struggling economy and real estate downturn. Political crackdowns on extreme wealth as part of Xi Jinping's push for a "common prosperity" have also led some Chinese billionaires to flee the country, with the most famous being Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma. In total, the country experienced a 14.8% decline in its billionaire population.

India saw its billionaire population grow the most. It's up 15.9% year on year, and the country is now home to 304 billionaires thanks to infrastructure development, a maturing consumer class, and an uptick in Indian stocks.

There are more billionaires in the world than ever before. Altrata reported a total billionaire population of 3,323, up 4% over last year. Billionaire wealth increased 9% to a cumulative $12.1 trillion.

These are the cities that the members of the world's wealthiest class call home.

15. Hangzhou