Texas has three of America’s wealthiest cities but Bay area has most billionaires

Of the 11 wealthiest cities in the United States, three are in Texas, according to a new report published by Henley & Partners, a global leader in residence and citizenship by investment.

In its America’s Wealthiest Cities report, which ranks cities by the number of millionaires, centi-millionaires and billionaires, Texas has greatest number of cities with the wealthiest residents. The majority live in Houston, followed by Dallas and Austin.

No other state has three cities listed other than Texas.

The 11 cities with the greatest number of wealthy residents are New York City, the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Boston, Miami, Austin and Washington, D.C.

New York City has the most millionaires and centi-millionaires – 349,500 and 744, respectively – and the second greatest number of billionaires, 60.

The Bay Area has the greatest number of billionaires – 68 – and the second greatest number of millionaires and centi-millionaires – 305,700 and 675, respectively. Los Angeles ranks third highest in all three categories.

In Texas, Houston has the most in all three categories: 90,900 millionaires, 258 centi-millionaires, and 18 billionaires. Dallas has 68,600 millionaires, 125 centi-millionaires and 15 billionaires; Austin has 32,700 millionaires, 92 centi-millionaires and 10 billionaires.

From 2013 to 2023, Austin saw the greatest growth of millionaires of 110%. Dallas and Houston saw growth of 75% and 70%, respectively.

Nationwide, the number of millionaires grew by 62% over the same time period.

Austin’s millionaire growth is attributed to the tech industry.

"Several major tech companies have moved their headquarters to the city over the past few years, most notably Tesla and Oracle," the report states. "Austin’s top-end residential market has also been growing rapidly."

But as more millionaires have moved to Austin, the state’s capital has become exceedingly less affordable. Home prices have become inflated due to a number of factors and Austin has also gained a large number of high-income renter households.

Over a five-year-period evaluated, as home prices increased by 49% in Austin, high-income renter households increased by 130%, a recent Rent Café report found.

Rent Café defines high-income renters as those making more than $150,000 a year. In 2023, there were 2.6 million high earners living in rentals in the U.S.; “among them is a new ritzy kind of tenant: the millionaire renter.”

Nationwide, the top five cities with the greatest percentage of high-income renters are San Francisco, San Jose, California, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Boston.

The top five cities with the greatest number of high-income renter households are New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and San Jose, according to a Rent Café analysis.

In Texas, the cities with the greatest number of high-income renter households are Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.

“The USA remains the undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation,” the Henley & Partners report states.

The United States has the greatest number of billionaires, millionaires, and centi-millionaires in the world – 5,492,000 millionaires, 9,850 centi-millionaires and 788 billionaires, according to the report.

The report cites data is from December 2023 and defines wealth as “an individual's liquid investable wealth, which only includes listed company holdings, cash holdings, and debt free residential property holdings.”