US Has $67 Trillion in Global Liquid Investable Wealth

The US remains the world’s undisputed leader in private wealth creation and accumulation as it accounts for 32% of global liquid investable wealth ($67 trillion), according to a new report published by global wealth advisory firm Henley & Partners in partnership with New World Wealth.

The report entitled “2024 USA Wealth Report,” also said that the US is currently home to 37% of the world’s millionaires including 5.5 million high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) who hold over $1 million in liquid investable assets. This number has risen by an impressive 62% over the past decade, well ahead of the worldwide growth rate of 38%.

Although the USA’s GDP is similar to that of China, America ranks way ahead when it comes to liquid wealth (which for the purpose of this report only includes listed company holdings, cash holdings, and debt-free residential property holdings).

Likewise, wealth per capita and the number of millionaires, centi-millionaires, and billionaires are all substantially higher stateside. The US has 9,850 centi-millionaires and 788 billionaires compared with China’s 2,352 and 305 respectively.

While just over 862,000 millionaires live in China, its wealth per capita is only $18,800 compared with $201,500 in America, which ranks 6^th globally after Monaco, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Australia, and Singapore when it comes to this measure.

Mehdi Kadiri, Head of North America at Henley & Partners, said that the record numbers of wealthy US-Americans have been securing alternative residence rights abroad or additional citizenships currently.

“US nationals are our firm’s single biggest cohort of applicants for investment migration programs right now and they also outnumbered every other nationality last year. With political divisions and societal tensions at an all-time high, the US investors, entrepreneurs, and wealthy families are increasingly hedging their bets and pursuing backup citizenship or residence abroad, signaling declining faith in the domestic outlook,” Kadiri added.

Wealthiest and Priciest Cities

New York City continues to wear the crown as the wealthiest city in the US and the world with 349,500 millionaires calling the Big Apple home (of which 744 are centi-millionaires and 60 are billionaires), followed by the Bay Area (305,700), Los Angeles (212,100), Chicago (120,500), and Houston (90,900). Dallas (68,600), Seattle (54,200), Boston (42,900), Miami (35,300), and Austin (32,700) all make it into this year’s Top 10, with Washington, D.C. in 11^th place with 28,300 resident millionaires.

Looking at wealth growth over the past decade, thanks to its tech boom, Texas’s capital Austin has enjoyed the biggest leap, with a 110% increase in its millionaire population between 2013 and 2023. The Arizona desert city of Scottsdale and Florida’s Palm Beach and West Palm Beach have also proved to be millionaire magnets with increases of 102% and 93%, respectively, in their HNWI residents over the last 10 years.

Greenwich and Darien on Connecticut’s affluent Gold Coast, and Northern California’s Bay Area, have sported wealth growth of over 80%, and Miami, Dallas, D.C., Seattle, and Houston have all seen their millionaire resident cohorts surge by over 70%.

Future Hotspots

Andrew Amoils, Head of Research at New World Wealth, said that future wealth hotspots to watch are Salt Lake City, Tampa, and Naples. Over the next decade, we can expect these cities to attract rising numbers of high-net-worth residents.

When it comes to the most expensive real estate in America, New York again takes the lead with the average price per sq m of a ‘prime’ (200 sq m to 400 sq m) apartment in the city standing at $28,400. Next up is Los Angeles, where the plushiest pads fetch an average of $17,800 per sq m, followed closely by Palm Beach ($17,500), Miami Beach ($17,200), and the Bay Area, where you can spend up to USD 15,500 per m2 for premium residential units in the most affluent locations.

The US is also projected to see a surge in incoming millionaires­ in 2024, with the Bay Area, Austin, Miami, and West Palm Beach among the most popular destinations. Net inflows of HNWIs are expected to exceed 3,500 in 2024 compared to just over 2,200 that moved to the country in 2023.

US Millionaires On Move

In terms of private wealth outflows, Henley & Partners received the most enquiries from US citizens on record in 2023 (an increase of 500% over the past five years), making US-Americans the highest ranked nationality worldwide when it comes to applying for residence and citizenship by investment programs.

To meet this significant and growing demand from US investors, the firm has opened six new offices over past twelve months in the wealth hubs of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and San Fransico.

According to the firm’s latest client data, the most sought-after investment migration option for US citizens remains the Portugal Golden Residence Permit Program followed by Malta’s investment offering, which allows for the granting of citizenship by a certificate of naturalisation to foreign individuals and their families who contribute to the country’s economic development.

Other European residence programs that lead to citizenship with no or very minimal requirements in Greece, Italy, and Spain are also highly placed on American wish lists, with Spain top of the leader-board in 2024 thus far, the report said.