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> From what I can tell, NYC has lots of millionaires primarily because rich people like to live there, so rich and talented people move to NYC from all over the

> From what I can tell, NYC has lots of millionaires primarily because rich people like to live there, so rich and talented people move to NYC from all over the US. I couldn't find any data on this with a quick search, but my instinct is that NYC probably generates more millionaires than it acquires. You can move to the city straight out of college and become a millionaire in relatively short order if you land the right job; it's a much more circuitous path to get rich by starting, like, a construction company in rural Nebraska and then move to NYC. The same seems (broadly) true of other financial or tech capitals. It's easier to build wealth in cities than outside of them.

nordsieck 6y ago
> my instinct is that NYC probably generates more millionaires than it acquires. You can move to the city straight out of college and become a millionaire in relatively short order if you land the right job; I guess it depends on how you count. I see most those people who would have been millionaires anywhere they moved to (e.g. top 10% Harvard law grad). Will they make better money in NYC than probably anywhere else in the US? Probably. Are there more high paying law and finance jobs in NYC than anywhere in the US (with the possible exception of DC)? Probably. But as many people are fond of pointing out, that doesn't really consider labor's role in this. NYC has jobs, but it needs talented people. There are plenty of talented people who are born and grow up in NYC, but there aren't nearly enough to fill the high salary jobs that open every year.
- culturestate 6y ago
  > I see most those people who would have been millionaires anywhere they moved to (e.g. top 10% Harvard law grad)...NYC has jobs, but it needs talented people. This is kind of my point (and, I assume, the OP's): most of those people move to the city to become millionaires, not because they already are millionaires and prefer to live in the city. In that regard, cities do sort of spontaneously generate millionaires in that most wealth is produced there and not (there's probably a better way to phrase this) imported.

nordsieck 6y ago

> my instinct is that NYC probably generates more millionaires than it acquires. You can move to the city straight out of college and become a millionaire in relatively short order if you land the right job; I guess it depends on how you count. I see most those people who would have been millionaires anywhere they moved to (e.g. top 10% Harvard law grad). Will they make better money in NYC than probably anywhere else in the US? Probably. Are there more high paying law and finance jobs in NYC than anywhere in the US (with the possible exception of DC)? Probably. But as many people are fond of pointing out, that doesn't really consider labor's role in this. NYC has jobs, but it needs talented people. There are plenty of talented people who are born and grow up in NYC, but there aren't nearly enough to fill the high salary jobs that open every year.

culturestate 6y ago
> I see most those people who would have been millionaires anywhere they moved to (e.g. top 10% Harvard law grad)...NYC has jobs, but it needs talented people. This is kind of my point (and, I assume, the OP's): most of those people move to the city to become millionaires, not because they already are millionaires and prefer to live in the city. In that regard, cities do sort of spontaneously generate millionaires in that most wealth is produced there and not (there's probably a better way to phrase this) imported.