What attracts millionaires to cities large and small? Based on a new study from the London-based investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners, having a booming tech industry doesn’t hurt. Insider took a deep dive into some of the data from the report in question and noted that five small cities saw their populations of millionaires increase dramatically between 2012 and 2022. Given the primacy of the tech sector, the fact that Austin, Texas is at the top of the list will surprise few.
As per Insider’s report, Austin saw its population of millionaires grow by 102% between 2012 and 2022. That’s significantly more, relatively speaking, than the comparable millionaire population growth for New York (40%), Chicago (24%) or Los Angeles (35%) in the same period.
Aside from Austin, rounding out the top five small cities with abundant millionaire population growth were West Palm Beach, Florida; Scottsdale, Arizona; Miami, Florida; and Greenwich and Darien, Connecticut.
There are 700,000 New Millionaires in the U.S. Since 2016
The U.S. now has a record of more than 11 million millionaire households, CNBC reports.In some cases, Insider notes, the pandemic played a role in this, with wealthy individuals shifting their primary residences to what had previously been second homes. It’s worth pointing out that the Henley & Partners study features both Miami and West Palm Beach in the top three cities for second homes owned by centi-millionaires. (The other location in the top three is a bit north of there: The Hamptons.)
Nikki Greenberg of Henley & Partners writes that Austin is “in particular gaining from internal migration due to tech firms such as Amazon, Google, Meta, SpaceX, and Tesla expanding their presences, and Apple investing USD 1 billion in a new campus.” We’re a long ways from “Keep Austin Weird” — and the city’s period of flux seems far from over.
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