A viral X post from culture and music account @mymixtapez just dropped a jaw-dropping claim New York City is the world’s wealthiest city, home to 384,500 millionaires and 66 billionaires. That’s roughly one millionaire for every 22 New Yorkers.
The numbers come straight from the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2025, published April 8, 2025, by Henley & Partners in partnership with New World Wealth. The report ranked New York No. 1 globally with 384,500 resident millionaires (people holding at least $1 million in liquid investable assets), 818 centi-millionaires ($100 million-plus), and 66 billionaires. Data reflected conditions through roughly the end of 2024.
“The US continues to dominate, with 11 cities on the Top 50 Cities for Millionaires list… led by New York in 1st place with 384,500 high-net-worth individuals (including 818 resident centi-millionaires… and 66 billionaires),”
The Henley & Partners press release stated.
The Bay Area (San Francisco plus Silicon Valley) took second with 342,400 millionaires but edged New York on billionaires (82) and posted far faster growth: 98 percent over the decade versus New York’s 45 percent. Tokyo, Singapore, and Los Angeles rounded out the top five.
“Wealthiest” here does not mean the highest GDP, the richest average resident, or total private wealth for every New Yorker. It measures the headcount of people with qualifying liquid assets stocks, cash, bonds, crypto excluding primary real estate. That stricter definition matters. A homeowner sitting on a $2 million apartment with little cash or investments may not count.
The “1 in 22” figure is a solid approximation. Using recent Census population estimates around 8.5 million residents, 384,500 millionaires works out to roughly 4.5 percent, or about one in 22. It is not an official government statistic, just straightforward math from the report’s count and available population data.
Here’s the biggest caveat: Forbes’ separate 2025 Cities With The Most Billionaires list counted 123 billionaire residents in New York nearly double Henley’s 66. Different residency rules, valuation dates, and net-worth methodologies explain the gap. Henley’s liquid-wealth focus produces a lower billionaire total; Forbes’ broader approach puts New York clearly first by that metric too.
So the claim holds up. New York still concentrates extraordinary wealth. Nearly 385,000 residents meet this report’s millionaire threshold inside a city of about 8.5 million people. That concentration is real and remarkable. It does not mean the typical New Yorker is rich. High costs, inequality, and everyday economic pressures remain part of the same story.
