The majority of the world's top 1% and ultra-wealthy individuals reside in major global financial hubs, with New York City consistently ranked as the top city for both millionaires and billionaires. Other top cities include the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
World's ultra-wealthy primarily live New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles.
Top earners across the United States earn nearly least six figures, with an average income of over $99,971 for those in the top 10% in 2022. Earners in the top 1% need to make $1 million annually in states like California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington.
Only twenty metropolitan areas — New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Philadelphia, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, San Jose, Seattle, Minneapolis, San Diego, Detroit, Phoenix, Baltimore, Bridgeport (Fairfield County, Connecticut, is the center of the hedge fund industry and home to many ...
The income it takes to be in the top 1% of earners in every U.S. state—it's over $700,000 on average
It's often viewed as a marker of financial success. According to 2023 estimates from the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report and other sources, approximately 23.7 million U.S. households, or about 18.04% of all households, have a net worth of $1 million or more.
To be in the top 5% of net worth in the U.S., you generally need a net worth of around $3.8 million or more, with figures ranging from roughly $1.2 million to over $3.8 million depending on the specific data source and year, with the highest figures often reflecting the most recent (late 2022) Federal Reserve data. This level signifies substantial assets in real estate, stocks, and savings, far exceeding the median household wealth.
Golf Courses and Tennis Clubs: Wealthy people like golf and tennis. Join group classes in these best settings to learn and network. Exquisite Dining Places: Rich people are fond of dining out in upscale restaurants. The chance meetings work best at our local extravagant restaurants and high-end steakhouses.
About 90% of millionaires build wealth through long-term investing, often focusing on real estate, starting their own businesses, and making consistent, disciplined financial choices like budgeting, saving, and continuous self-education, rather than flashy spending, with a strong belief in controlling their own financial destiny. They prioritize tangible assets and income streams, using strategies like leverage and tax benefits, and avoid excessive spending on depreciating assets like luxury cars.
Furthermore, four other states in the top 10 are in the South: Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee. Rich millennials are leaving New York State. Between 2017 and 2018, fewer than 11,400 rich millennials moved to New York State, while close to 17,000 of them left.
No single group holds exactly 90% of the wealth globally or in the U.S., but the top 10% of adults globally hold about 85% of the world's wealth, while the bottom 90% hold only 15%, showing extreme concentration; in the U.S., the top 1% owns roughly as much wealth as the bottom 90% combined, with the wealthiest 10% holding about two-thirds of the nation's wealth.
The terminal level, an ultra-high-net-worth individual (UHNWI, the ultra-rich, super-rich, extreme wealth, or a billionaire ), holds US$30 million in investable assets (adjusted for inflation). Individuals with a net worth of over US$1 billion are considered to occupy a special bracket of the UHNWI.
Defining the Classes
Bottom 25% of Americans: Less than $29,300 net worth. Lower middle class (25th to 50th percentile): $29,300 to $209,000 net worth. Upper middle class (50th to 75th percentile): $209,000 to $714,000 net worth. Upper class (75th to 90th percentile): $714,000 to $2.1 million net worth.
In fact, reliable data suggests that households with $5 million or more in net worth represent a small fraction of the population. According to DQYDJ, in 2023, approximately 4.8 million American households had a net worth above $5 million, representing roughly 3.7% of all U.S. households.
Around 24 million Americans have a net worth of $1 million or more, representing roughly 1 in 11 adults or about 8.8% of the population, though this figure often refers to households rather than individuals, with recent data from late 2024/early 2025 suggesting numbers around 22-24 million. While the average household net worth has surpassed $1 million due to strong markets and real estate, the median is much lower, showing wealth concentration, but millions joined the millionaire club recently, adding over 1,000 a day in 2024.
For a 50-year-old, the average 401(k) balance varies significantly by provider but generally falls between around $190,000 to over $600,000, with medians often in the $70,000 to $250,000 range, showing huge disparities between average and median figures due to high earners skewing the average; experts suggest aiming for 5 to 6 times your salary by this age.
THE TOP 5 CAREERS OF MILLIONAIRES: - Engineer - Accountant (CPA) - Teacher - Management - Attorney Some of those are surprising, huh? Nope, teacher isn't a typo. You see, it's not chance or inheritance that creates most millionaires. It's a PLAN.