Millionaires Are Leaving Chicago Faster Than Anywhere in America

CHICAGO, IL - Not only does the millionaire migration not include Chicago, but rich types are avoiding the Midwest’s largest city at a rate higher than any other large city in the country.

A recent New World Health study found there were approximately 3,000 millionaires who left the city in 2015. Only Paris and Rome saw more millionaires move out that year worldwide.

But while millionaires leaving Paris, Rome and Athens (No. 4 on the list) often bolted for other countries, the study found those leaving Chicago were finding other large cities in the United States.

Like San Francisco and Seattle, the two U.S. cities with the largest number of millionaire “inflows” in 2015.

The study didn’t just look at numbers, though. Migration experts in each of the cities tested were interviewed to find the reasons behind the steep changes on both sides of the coin.

In Chicago, the study found that “rising racial tensions and rising crime levels” were the primary reasons millionaires were leaving.

In Paris it was “rising religious tensions” and “lack of opportunities” and in Rome it was an “economic slump” and “lack of opportunities.”

In addition to San Francisco and Seattle, worldwide cities with the highest inflow of millionaires included Sydney, Melbourne, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Vancouver and Perth.