The wealthiest Americans: comparing places of residence now and20 years ago

“California used to be the Golden State. Now it’s rusty and broken,” says energy drink mogul Russ Weiner. In a sense, the state is rich in gold; California is a treasure trove of extreme wealth. But some of its wealthiest residents, including Weiner (whose net worth is estimated at $4.8 billion at the time of publication), have also been leaving, Forbes found in its 20-year analysis of the annual Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.

California has always been home to more members of the Forbes 400 than any other state, and now there are 87 of them there. But that's six fewer than twenty years ago. Many tech titans based in California have appeared and disappeared from the list over the years as their fortunes fluctuated with the stock market, but some simply vanished because the billionaires moved away. Over the past 20 years, while California gained new residents on the Forbes 400, it lost 19 of them to other states, particularly Texas, Nevada, and Florida, where Rockstar energy drink founder Weiner moved in 2009. What made him change his place of residence? "Crime, homelessness, education, taxes," he says. Oh, and Democrats.

Weiner is far from being the only ultra-wealthy entrepreneur seeking a better climate and lower taxes. Florida and Texas, which have neither a state income tax nor a capital gains tax, have both seen a sharp increase in the number of residents on the Forbes 400 list over the past 20 years. Texas has grown from 36 to 45, a 25% increase, while Florida has remarkably doubled from 23 to 46 members on the list.

Most of the growth in Florida has come from members of the Forbes 400 who moved there. Among them is hedge fund titan Ken Griffin, a former Chicago resident who also relocated his company Citadel to Miami because he believed it offered a better corporate environment; Paychex founder Tom Golisano, who said he left due to New York's high taxes when he moved to Naples in 2009; Charles B. Johnson, who moved from California to Palm Beach after leaving the investment firm Franklin Resources; and Thomas Peterffy of Interactive Brokers, who left Connecticut around 2015, also for Palm Beach. Over the past decade, a large number of new residents in Florida have come from elite areas in the Northeast - New York, Connecticut, and Illinois, and most of them made their fortunes in finance and investments.

Far fewer new residents of Florida have built their fortunes in the state itself, such as Nick Caporella, whose company National Beverage produces the popular soda La Croix.

The situation in the Midwest is much gloomier, with the wealthy disappearing. The number of the richest Americans there has decreased by 42% over the past two decades, from 73 to 42, mainly because the fortunes of the rich in the heart of the country have shrunk or failed to keep pace with the rest of the country. (The threshold to enter the Forbes 400 list has risen from $600 million in 2003 to $2.9 billion in 2023.) But some have simply moved to warmer places, like film producer Gigi Pritzker (who changed her permanent address from Chicago to California around 2019) or two heirs of the Walmart fortune (from Missouri to Texas and Nevada). About 30% of the residents of the Midwest who were on the Forbes 400 lists in 2003 and 2013 have since dropped off, primarily because they have died. In recent years, iconic figures among them included Walter Scott Jr. from Berkshire Hathaway (a former Omaha resident and close friend of Warren Buffett) and Sam Zell from Chicago (a pioneer of modern investment trusts), and a bit earlier, William Ford Sr., the last grandson of Henry Ford, who lived in Michigan. The manufacturing industry has experienced particularly significant fluctuations—alongside decades of declining production in the Midwest—as well as media, real estate, and retail. Minnesota has been hit the hardest. In 2003, it ranked 9th among states with the most members of the Forbes 400, with 11 individuals, but now there are none. One family has significantly influenced this decline. The clan behind the world's largest agricultural company, Cargill, was once concentrated in the North Star state, where the company is located.

Although taxes matter, Valchak and other analysts emphasize that this is far from the only consideration for billionaires when planning their place of residence. It often isn't even the most important factor. "Many state legislators overestimate how sensitive wealthy people are to a few percentage points of difference in state tax rates," says Karl Davis from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Richard Oxley from the Center for Tax Policy agrees: "If you live in West Virginia or Michigan and think that taxes are the only difference between your state and Florida or Texas, I really need you to think about that." Instead, they say, the choice of residence is a hyper-personal decision, noting that a common reason for billionaires moving is proximity to family. The ultra-wealthy also seek better education systems, considering both their children and their company employees. Urban amenities are a big draw. Safe neighborhoods, good infrastructure, and cultural centers are also important. Culture is something that appeals to AriZona tea founder Don Vultaggio, who was raised in Brooklyn and has a net worth of $5.6 billion. (Vultaggio now lives in the suburbs, in Port Washington on Long Island.) He recalls a conversation he once had with Andrew Cuomo: "Governor, business people don't mind paying taxes. We like it here. Museums, theaters. It's great." Many would likely agree, as the number of New Yorkers on the Forbes 400 list has increased by 27% over the past two decades, from 49 to 62.

Extreme wealth is consolidating in the United States. In 2003, the 10 states with the most members of the Forbes 400 had 275 of them; today they have 297. Exactly 60% of the billionaires who made the list this year live in four states: California, New York, Florida, and Texas, the four most populous states, which together account for a third of all Americans. "The growing geographical concentration helps explain our populist politics these days," says Darrell West, author of the 2014 book "Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Class." "Much of the country is lagging in economic activity." Several states—Maine, Delaware, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Alaska—have not had a resident on the Forbes 400 list for at least two decades. On the other hand, the situation is much better in places like Arizona and Georgia, which first entered the top 10 states in 2014 (when the latter was tied with Maryland and Tennessee with 7 members on the list) and now rank 6th with 10 residents on the Forbes 400. Iowa and Kentucky both had no residents on the Forbes 400 in 2003, but now each has one: Gary Stein (estimated net worth of $8.8 billion, made the list in 2014) and Tamara Gustafson ($7.4 billion, 2011), respectively. This is also a remarkable year for Mississippi, which made the list for only the second time in two decades. The Duff brothers from Hattiesburg, behind the holding company Duff, have joined the ranks of the wealthiest.