Even millionaires are renting in today’s expensive real estate market.
Apartment-search website RentCafe found that the number of millionaire renter households grew by 229% when comparing US Census Bureau estimates for 2020 to 2024 with those from 2016 to 2020. That outpaced the 193% growth in millionaire homeowner households during the same period.
RentCafe defines a “millionaire renter” as a household earning at least $1 million a year that rents an apartment or house.
The company found that nearly half of millionaire renters are millennials, though the number of Gen Z millionaire renters has grown the fastest since 2020. And while New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles remain the biggest hubs for millionaire renters, Southern metros are seeing the fastest growth.
Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix, the firm behind RentCafe’s report, told Business Insider that while Western metros such as Riverside and Santa Cruz, California, and Northeastern metros such as Utica and Syracuse, New York, are losing millionaire renters, Southern metros are gaining them, largely thanks to their growing job markets.
“These declines are at the intersection of migration, wealth creation, lifestyle choices, and renting as a transitional or capital strategy,” Ressler said. “As corporate headquarters relocate to the South, more senior-level executives are moving there. Many rent before they buy, helping drive the region’s growth in high-income households and millionaires.”
Over the past few years, many companies, including Tesla, Oracle, Charles Schwab, and Palantir, have relocated their headquarters or opened new offices in Texas and Florida, bringing their workers with them. It’s no surprise, then, that several of the fastest-growing metros for millionaire renters are in these two states. Below, the top 10 cities for millionaire renters.
10. Phoenix
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 20
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 91
- Percentage increase: 355%
9. Boston
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 100
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 481
- Percentage increase: 381%
8. Dallas
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 30
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 165
- Percentage increase: 450%
7. St. Louis
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 15
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 83
- Percentage increase: 453%
6. Denver
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 39
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 235
- Percentage increase: 503%
5. Los Angeles
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 216
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 1,532
- Percentage increase: 609%
4. Seattle
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 50
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 445
- Percentage increase: 790%
3. Miami
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 51
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 538
- Percentage increase: 955%
2. Naples, Florida
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 7
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 76
- Percentage increase: 986%
1. Houston
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2020: 18
- Number of millionaire renter households in 2024: 232
- Percentage increase: 1,189%
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