What industries and cities in California contribute most to millionaire concentrations?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
California leads the nation in raw numbers of millionaires—over 1.1 million millionaire households statewide and major cities such as Los Angeles (reported 220,600 millionaires, 516 “hundred millionaires,” and 45 billionaires) and San Francisco/Bay Area driving fast growth —the Bay Area’s millionaire population surged ~98% since 2014 and ADP data show the Bay Area has the highest concentration of million-dollar jobs among U.S. metros [1] [2] [3]. IRS and payroll data cited by multiple outlets show California both “mints” new millionaires rapidly (66% increase in people reporting $1M+ income from 2019–2021 by one report) and retains the largest absolute stock of wealthy households [4] [5].
1. Cities: Los Angeles and the Bay Area dominate in headcount
National compilations and media analyses put Los Angeles and the Bay Area (San Francisco and Silicon Valley) at the top of California’s millionaire map: Los Angeles is reported with roughly 220,600 millionaires and dozens of billionaires, while San Francisco/Bay Area is widely cited as poised to rival or surpass New York City in millionaire and billionaire counts, and the Bay Area shows the highest concentration of million-dollar jobs per ADP payroll data [2] [3]. Different measures matter: raw counts favor Los Angeles because of population scale; concentration and payroll measures favor the Bay Area [2] [3].
2. Industries: tech and finance (plus entertainment) are the engines
Reporting singles out high tech in the Bay Area as the primary driver of California’s surge in super-wealthy people, with rapid growth in stock- and equity-driven wealth since 2014 [2]. Financial, venture-capital and payroll data also concentrate high salaries in tech-heavy metros, while Los Angeles’s numbers reflect entertainment, media and a large professional-services base that together sustain very high headcounts of millionaires and multimillionaires [2] [3]. Sources repeatedly link concentrated private-equity, hedge-fund and venture-capital activity to state-level wealth dynamics as well [6].
3. Rapid creation versus migration: California creates millionaires faster than it loses them
IRS-based reporting and wealth-advisor coverage show a complex picture: large outflows of residents since the late 2010s coincided with a sharp increase in people reporting $1M+ taxable income — one series finds a 66% rise in $1M+ tax filers from 2019 to 2021 and other coverage documents the number of tax millionaires rising even as some wealthy individuals relocate [4] [5]. Analysts note California’s share of U.S. millionaires rose to 17.9% in 2021 from 17.0% in 2019, arguing the state “mints” millionaires faster than they leave [5].
4. Timing and volatility: year-to-year swings matter
High-net-worth counts shift with markets and reporting frames. One business-journal analysis found a 47% jump in million-dollar earners in 2021 followed by declines in 2022 — California posted a 17% drop in million-dollar earners that year — showing how equity markets and compensation cycles drive short-term volatility in millionaire tallies [7]. Thus totals and trends depend strongly on the year, the metric used (income vs. net worth vs. household wealth), and whether private equity and unrealized gains are counted [7] [6].
5. Per-capita vs. absolute totals: different winners
California has the largest absolute number of millionaire households (over 1.1 million) but is not the leader on a per-household basis: smaller states like New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. report higher concentrations of millionaire households as a share of households [1] [2]. Journalists and analysts emphasize this distinction: California dominates in scale; several Northeast states and small, affluent states lead in per-capita concentration [1].
6. Political context and policy pressures shaping wealthy behavior
High-profile policy debates—most notably proposals for a one-time 5% “billionaire” net-worth levy—have entered public discussion and may influence residency decisions among the ultra-wealthy. Proponents estimate roughly 180–200 California billionaires holding about $2 trillion collectively; opponents argue legal and mobility issues could follow [8] [9]. Reporting notes some clients are already exploring departure strategies in response to proposed wealth taxes, which could alter future millionaire and billionaire counts if enacted or perceived as likely [9] [8].
7. Limitations, disagreements and what reporting does not say
Available sources use varying definitions (taxable income vs. net worth vs. millionaire households) and different years, producing divergent trend statements — for example, one source emphasizes a 66% rise in $1M+ tax filers while another documents intermittent declines tied to market pullbacks [4] [7]. Sources do not provide a single reconciled, up-to-date count across all metrics; available sources do not mention a comprehensive, post-2022 reconciliation that tracks how post-2022 market and migration trends changed millionaire headcounts statewide beyond the cited analyses (not found in current reporting).
Bottom line: California concentrates enormous wealth in particular metros and industries — Los Angeles (scale) and the Bay Area (concentration and tech pay) lead — but which places “contribute most” depends on the metric: absolute counts, per-capita concentration, taxable income spikes or realized-net-worth tallies each tell a different but complementary story [2] [3] [1] [5].