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New York

Why New York Outranks San Francisco as a Destination for the Young and Wealthy

New York ranks first and San Francisco fourth in Savills’ index of destinations for recently wealthy people under 40. The ranking weighs more than AI-sector strength.

By TheFinanceBase Team 3 min read

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New York ranks first and San Francisco fourth in Savills’ Next Generation Wealth Hubs Index, according to Mansion Global’s report on the 2026 ranking. The result does not mean New York has more AI wealth or that more affluent young people actually moved there. It reflects a broader comparison of places positioned to attract and retain a specific group: people under 40 who recently made or inherited wealth.

What the ranking measures

Savills says it assessed more than 100 locations for their ability to attract and retain the next generation of wealthy people. The index focuses on people under 40 who recently made or inherited wealth—not all millionaires, all young adults, or college graduates. Savills’ October 2026 summary confirms that New York, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are all in the global top five, but does not give their exact positions. Mansion Global reports the exact order: New York, Miami, London, then San Francisco.

The index groups its criteria into four pillars:

  • Business, governance and connectivity
  • Wealth clusters and local environment
  • Wealth management and taxation
  • Lifestyle

The available summaries do not disclose the pillars’ numerical weights or city-by-city scores. They therefore do not establish that New York beat San Francisco on any particular factor.

Why AI wealth alone does not determine the result

San Francisco’s reputation as an AI and technology hub is relevant to business opportunity, but the index is not an AI-sector ranking. Savills’ framework also considers governance, connectivity, wealth services, the local environment and lifestyle. A city’s strength in one industry cannot, by itself, settle a comparison across all those dimensions.

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Savills World Research associate director Kelcie Sellers told Mansion Global that as wealth passes to a younger, more mobile generation, lifestyle, education, wellness and personal values are increasingly influencing where people choose to live, invest and establish businesses. That describes the considerations behind the index; it does not show which one explains the gap between New York and San Francisco.

The distinction matters: the index compares destinations’ ability to attract and retain its defined cohort. It is not evidence that more wealthy people under 40 moved to New York than to San Francisco during a measured period, or that the ranking predicts future relocation totals.

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What separate wealth and graduate data can—and cannot—tell you

Other rankings use different populations and methods, so their results should not be treated as a direct check of Savills’ destination index.

Source and measure New York San Francisco or Bay Area What it measures
Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, 2025 384,500 resident high-net-worth individuals 342,400 resident millionaires in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes San Francisco and Silicon Valley Resident wealth populations in a separate report; the Bay Area is not San Francisco city proper.
JLL, 2025 First among graduate destinations Second among graduate destinations Destinations of 1.47 million office-using U.S. graduates analyzed by JLL—not wealthy people under 40.

New York’s lead in the 2025 resident-wealth figures does not explain the Savills ranking, and the Bay Area total is not a city-only count. Likewise, JLL’s graduate result is about an employment and education cohort, not the group defined by Savills.

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What the ranking may mean for property markets

Savills frames the coming transfer of wealth as a reason destinations may need to meet younger wealthy people’s changing priorities. It cites a Capgemini estimate, as reported by Mansion Global, that US$84 trillion is expected to transfer between generations over the next two decades. That is an estimate, not a count of money already moved or a forecast of property purchases in either city.

Sellers also cautioned that “Capital is likely to become more selective.” For property markets, the index is best read as a signal about the qualities wealth advisers and real-estate businesses may need to consider—not proof of actual migration, transactions, or demand in a particular neighborhood. The ranking does not supply city-level scores or show how much any one factor contributes to a city’s position.

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