20 States Where Millionaires Are Making Big Real Estate Moves

What would you do with a million dollars? Plenty—but a seven-figure net worth does not automatically translate into a mansion or a private ranch. Many American millionaires built their wealth through retirement accounts, home equity, and years of saving. Still, when affluent buyers do shop for property, taxes, population growth, scenery, privacy, and the availability of large parcels can make certain states stand out.

Ramsey Solutions, citing the UBS Global Wealth Report, estimates that the U.S. has about 23.8 million millionaires. That figure counts people whose total net worth is at least $1 million. The state figures used below come from a different 2019 study and count households with at least $1 million in investable assets, so the two sets of numbers should not be compared directly.

To see where wealth and real estate overlap, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data and reporting from Phoenix Marketing International, Ramsey Solutions, USA Today, Forbes, the U.S. Census Bureau, USDA, and property records. The result is not evidence of a secret land-buying campaign. It is a state-by-state look at where millionaire households are concentrated and where notable purchases or market conditions have put land on wealthy buyers' radar.

Florida remains one of the country's biggest destinations for people and money. The Census Bureau says it added 196,680 residents from 2024 to 2025, the second-largest numerical gain of any state. Phoenix Marketing International estimated 496,971 millionaire households in Florida in 2019, or 5.87% of households. Florida does not levy a broad individual income tax, and Palm Beach County is one of its best-known centers of wealth. That helps explain the demand for everything from coastal estates to inland ranches, though it does not mean every wealthy newcomer arrived for the same reason.

Texas added more residents than any other state from 2024 to 2025, according to the Census Bureau. The 2019 Phoenix estimate counted 650,216 millionaire households, or 6.32% of the total. Texas does not levy a broad individual income tax, and its enormous property inventory ranges from luxury homes in major metros to Hill Country acreage and working ranches. Dallas, Houston, and Austin are major wealth centers, but high-end buyers also have plenty of room to look beyond the city limits.

Montana is one of the least densely populated states, with large areas devoted to agriculture and grazing. Phoenix estimated 23,785 millionaire households in 2019, or 5.28% of households. Ranch and recreational properties attract affluent buyers, but there is no meaningful statewide price for an acre of “Montana land.” Location, water rights, access, improvements, and development potential can move the number dramatically.

California had an estimated 1,147,251 millionaire households in 2019—more than any other state—and they represented 8.51% of households. The most striking rural acquisition is California Forever. Founded in 2017 and backed by wealthy technology investors, the company says it bought nearly 70,000 acres in Solano County beginning in 2018. It is pursuing plans for a new community and major manufacturing projects, a proposal that has also drawn debate over farmland, infrastructure, and local control.

Phoenix estimated 40,450 millionaire households in New Mexico in 2019, or 4.97% of households. The state's luxury market includes enormous working and recreational ranches. Atarque Ranch, roughly 110,000 acres in western New Mexico, was listed for $68.5 million in 2025 and later sold for an undisclosed price. That is not a typical home purchase. It is practically its own map.

Nebraska had an estimated 45,130 millionaire households in 2019, representing 5.86% of households. Omaha is also home to Warren Buffett, who remained chairman of Berkshire Hathaway after Greg Abel became president and CEO in January 2026. Beyond Omaha, Nebraska's property story is dominated by farmland and ranchland, assets whose value depends more on agricultural productivity and water than on marble countertops.

Phoenix estimated 12,849 millionaire households in Wyoming in 2019, or 5.45% of households. The state does not levy a broad individual income tax, and the Jackson Hole area has long been a high-end property market. That does not make every Wyoming parcel expensive; agricultural land, remote acreage, and resort-area real estate operate in very different markets.

North Carolina recorded the nation's third-largest numerical population gain from 2024 to 2025, adding 145,907 residents according to Census estimates. Phoenix counted 224,054 millionaire households there in 2019, or 5.45% of households. The state has wealth centers around Charlotte and the Research Triangle, where SAS co-founder and CEO Jim Goodnight is based. Coastal property, mountain retreats, and large inland tracts give affluent buyers several very different markets to choose from.

Phoenix estimated 94,259 millionaire households in Alabama in 2019, or 4.87% of households. The state's rural land market also includes substantial institutional and foreign investment. USDA data showed foreign persons and entities held interests in about 2.2 million acres of Alabama agricultural land at the end of 2023, much of it forestland; investors associated with the Netherlands accounted for the largest national share. That figure covers companies and other entities, not simply rich individuals buying vacation spreads.

Louisiana had an estimated 87,565 millionaire households in 2019, representing 4.81% of households. Wealth is concentrated around places such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge, while the state's rural real estate includes timberland, farms, hunting property, and wetlands. Those categories come with very different costs and, in some cases, very different environmental risks.

Phoenix estimated 328,859 millionaire households in Pennsylvania in 2019, or 6.44% of households. The state offers affluent buyers a mix of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs, historic country properties, and working farmland. Film producer and investor Thomas Tull founded Rivendale Farms outside Pittsburgh in 2015, a documented example of private wealth moving into agriculture rather than merely buying a large lawn and calling it a farm.

New York ranked third by number of millionaire households in the 2019 Phoenix study, with 570,456, or 7.52% of households. New York City accounts for much of the state's visible wealth, but the property market extends well beyond the five boroughs. The Hudson Valley, Long Island, the Catskills, and the Adirondacks all offer estate, farm, and recreational land—usually with fewer elevators.

Maryland had an estimated 221,189 millionaire households in 2019. At 9.72% of households, it ranked just behind New Jersey in millionaire concentration. Much of that wealth sits in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, including communities such as Chevy Chase Village and other parts of Montgomery County. The state's market also stretches from Chesapeake waterfront property to farms in its central and western counties.

Georgia had an estimated 239,287 millionaire households in 2019, or 6.07% of households, and it added 98,540 residents from 2024 to 2025. A particularly visible land deal came in 2025, when boxer and media personality Jake Paul bought Southlands, a roughly 5,700-acre sporting ranch in Decatur County, for $39 million. One celebrity purchase does not establish a statewide trend, but it certainly qualifies as buying land.

New Jersey led the 2019 Phoenix ranking by concentration: 323,443 millionaire households made up 9.76% of all households. The state combines expensive New York City suburbs, affluent shore communities, and a much smaller supply of rural land than sprawling Western states. Housing is costly by national standards, but a single statewide average can hide an enormous gap between a modest inland home and a waterfront estate.

Hawaii had an estimated 44,383 millionaire households in 2019, or 9.20% of households. Land ownership is the bigger story. A Forbes review of property records found that 37 billionaires controlled at least 218,000 acres as of December 2023, equal to 5.3% of the state's total land and 11.1% of its privately owned land. In a place with limited housing and deep Native Hawaiian ties to the land, those holdings are understandably contentious.

Washington had an estimated 233,155 millionaire households in 2019, or 7.85% of households. The Seattle area is home to fortunes created by technology, retail, and investing, while the rest of the state offers vineyards, orchards, timberland, and waterfront retreats. Wealthy purchases of agricultural property have raised similar questions elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, including Oregon's wine country, but that reporting should not be treated as evidence of a Washington-specific buying spree.

Ohio had 261,157 millionaire households in Phoenix's 2019 estimate, or 5.54% of households. Its real-estate menu includes major-city suburbs, farms, timberland, and recreational property, generally at lower prices than coastal luxury markets. Buyers pursue that land for agriculture, timber, recreation, development, or private estates, but public property records do not sort them neatly by millionaire status.

Tennessee added 63,785 residents from 2024 to 2025 and ranked among the 10 fastest-growing states by percentage, according to the Census Bureau. Phoenix estimated 139,335 millionaire households in 2019, or 5.21% of households. Tennessee no longer taxes individual interest and dividend income and does not levy a broad individual income tax. Nashville-area estates, East Tennessee mountain property, and rural farms all compete for affluent buyers.

Kansas had an estimated 66,406 millionaire households in 2019, representing 5.81% of households. Mission Hills in Johnson County is one of the state's clearest pockets of wealth: recent Census-based estimates put its median household income at $250,001, the upper reporting limit for that dataset. Outside the Kansas City suburbs, the state's big-ticket land market is mostly about farms, ranches, and recreational acreage.