There is no comparison to the ‘richness’ of New York!
Today (November 4) is a big day in the world’s richest city. Voting is taking place here for the post of Mayor. This is no ordinary city, this is New York. A name that on hearing it brings to mind images of tall buildings, glitter and immense wealth. It is not called ‘wealth engine’ for nothing. The economy of this one city is so huge that even big countries like Canada appear dwarf in front of it. This is the place where every skilled person in the world dreams of settling.
Such a pile of wealth that it is difficult to believe
New York has not got the crown of the world’s richest city for nothing. 60 billionaires live in this one city. Not only this, 675 ‘centi-millionaires’ also live here. (Centi-millionaires are those people who have assets worth at least 100 million dollars i.e. more than Rs 830 crore).
This city also tops in the count of millionaires. About 3 lakh 49 thousand 500 millionaires live here. This is more than any other city in the world. The interesting thing is that in the list of top 50 richest cities of the world, 11 cities are from America alone, but New York is the king of them all.
However, there is another side to this glamour. The distribution of wealth here is very unequal. More than 40 percent of the city’s total income is owned by only the top one percent of ‘rich’.
The ‘financial capital’ that runs America’s economy
New York is also called the ‘Financial Capital’ of America. Exact figures for New York City’s economy in 2025 are not available, but its GDP in 2023 was estimated to be approximately $1.286 trillion. This is about 9 percent of the entire American economy.
The world’s two largest stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq (NASDAQ) are located right here on Wall Street. They decide the direction of the world economy. More than 1 lakh 81 thousand people work in the securities industry alone, who pay billions of dollars in taxes to the government.
The headquarters of the world’s leading financial companies like JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are located here. But New York is not limited to just finance. Technology has emerged as the new strength here. Tech companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook (Meta) are rapidly expanding their business here. Also, about 1 lakh 80 thousand people get employment in the fashion industry. Big media houses like ‘The New York Times’ and NBC also take the pulse of the world from here.
So expensive that owning a house is a dream.
It is not easy to live in this city of immense wealth. New York’s real estate is considered the most expensive in the world. Buying a house here is not within the reach of a common man. The city’s ‘Fifth Avenue’ has got the status of the world’s most expensive shopping street.
The house rent to live here is also the highest among the 50 largest cities of America. Despite such inflation, rich and skilled people from all over the world are drawn here. Not only this, New York is called the ‘Melting Pot’. People speaking more than 800 languages live in this city with a population of about 82 lakhs.