New York leads world in 'ultra-rich' residents

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- New York is home to more of the "ultra-rich" -- people with fortunes of $30 million or more -- than any other city in the world, a new survey finds.

In the United States, California, the most populous state in the country, also has more of the ultra-rich. The survey by Wealth X, working with the Swiss bank UBS, found that San Francisco has moved past Los Angeles as the favored home of the very wealthy.

New York State ranks second.

Collectively, the 211,275 ultra-rich globally have assets totaling $29.7 trillion. That's 13 percent of global wealth, although the ultra-rich are only .004 percent of the total population.

Wealth X found 34,789 ultra-rich in the United States in 2014, up 7 percent in a year. About one-quarter, 8,655, live in New York City.

In California, San Francisco had 5,460 ultra-rich, compared to 4,840 in 2013. In Los Angeles, there were 4,945 ultra-rich in 2013, and 5,135 this year.

The state had a total of 13,344 ultra-rich, while New York had 9,530.

North Dakota is not a state most people associate with great wealth, but Wealth X found the number there grew by 14.3 percent, the highest rate of increase in the country, due in large part to the state's oil boom.

The survey used each person's primary business address as their location.