New York has the highest portion of millionaires of any U.S. city, according to a study. Shown here, a view of Manhattan seen by looking west from the observation deck at the Empire State Building. 
 
 Michael Nagle / Getty Images 
 
 New York has the highest portion of millionaires of any U.S. city, according to a study. Shown here, a view of Manhattan seen by looking west from the observation deck at the Empire State Building. 
 
 New York has the highest portion of millionaires of any U.S. city, according to a study. Shown here, a view of Manhattan seen by looking west from the observation deck at the Empire State Building. (Michael Nagle / Getty Images) 

 We reveal the cities with the highest percentage of millionaires for the first time, in association with WealthInsight. 
 
 The cities with the highest percentage of millionaires have been revealed for the first time ever by Spear's, in association with leading wealth consultancy company WealthInsight. 
 
 The new study shows that in city-state Monaco you are only ever a stone's throw from a millionaire - with almost a third of the population classed in this financial bracket. Not far behind are Swiss banking centres Zurich and Geneva in second and third place, with key financial centres New York and Frankfurt in fourth and fifth. 
 
 Meanwhile London has the sixth highest percentage of millionaires of any city, with 3.39 per cent - that's one in thirty - of its population a millionaire or above. There are a total of 281,000 millionaires based in the capital. 
 
 WealthInsight defines 'millionaires' as individuals with net assets of US$1 million or more, excluding their primary residences. 
 
 Editor of Spear's Josh Spero says: "It's no surprise that London has so many millionaires - it is a magnet for home-grown and foreign talent in every field and where the wealthy come to enjoy their money. 
 
 "But London's continued success is not guaranteed, and big issues like membership of the EU and how we tax our citizens and businesses will determine whether we have more millionaires or fewer in the future. We also always need to bear in mind that having millionaires isn't itself a good thing if it means inequality - which is damaging to everyone - goes up too." 
 
 WealthInsight Analyst Oliver Williams adds: "Favourable tax and outstanding location are important criteria for attracting clusters of millionaires, but so too is ready access to wealth managers and private banks. Switzerland's two financial hubs of Zurich and Geneva are traditional havens of private banking, but so too is London, the world's third largest home of millionaires." 
 
 But there is much more to London than just easy access to finance, says Williams: "What millionaires particularly love about London is its political stability and heritage. Owning a piece of history in a city such as London is an aspiration for many, particularly wealthy individuals from overseas." 
 
 A ranking like this is important, says Williams, "because wealthy individuals, more than any other group, will change their home and even their domicile based on these factors". 
 
 TOP 20 GLOBAL CITIES BY MILLIONAIRE DENSITY - FULL BREAKDOWN: 
 
 1. Monaco (29.21%) 
 
 2. Zurich (27.34%) 
 
 3. Geneva (17.92%) 
 
 4. New York (4.63%) 
 
 5. Frankfurt (3.88%) 
 
 6. London (3.39%) 
 
 7. Oslo (2.90%) 
 
 8. Singapore (2.80%) 
 
 9. Amsterdam (2.63%) 
 
 10. Florence (2.59%) 
 
 11. Hong Kong (2.58%) 
 
 12. Rome (2.54%) 
 
 13. Dublin (2.40%) 
 
 14. Doha (2.31%) 
 
 15. Toronto (2.29%) 
 
 16. Venice (2.25%) 
 
 17. Brussels (2.11%) 
 
 18. Houston (2.09%) 
 
 19. San Francisco (2.07%) 
 
 20. Paris (2.04%)
– If you were to chuck everybody who wasn't a millionaire out of New York City, the city would still have a higher population than New Orleans, according to a new study. Researchers at Spear's magazine say 4.63% of the city's population have assets of $1 million or more—excluding their primary residences—adding up to 389,100 millionaires. New York has the fourth-highest proportion of millionaire residents in the world, though there's a big drop-off after the first three: You can barely move around Monaco without tripping over millionaires, who make up 29% of the population, while Zurich is at 27% and Geneva 18%. "New York has long been the bastion of wealth not only in America, but the world," an analyst at consulting firm WealthInsight tells the Los Angeles Times. "It has the second largest millionaire and largest billionaire population of any global city." By numbers of millionaires instead of proportion, Tokyo came out on top and London third. Only two other American cities made the top 20 based on the proportion of millionaires: Houston and San Francisco, at roughly 2% each. (Click to read about what the uber-rich worry about.)