Ranking for Germany: This is where most income millionaires live
The Bild newspaper has obtained current data from the tax offices and financial administrations of the federal states in order to determine in which federal states and in which cities the most income millionaires live.
North Rhine-Westphalia leads the way. This isn't really surprising, given that it's the most populous federal state with approximately 18 million inhabitants. It's followed by Bavaria (total population: 13.4 million), Baden-Württemberg (11.1 million), and Hesse (6.26 million).
Income taxpayers with total income of one million euros or more were considered. The survey period was the 2021 tax year, and the data was published in July 2025. Here is the list of all federal states:
- North Rhine-Westphalia: 7,871 income millionaires
- Bavaria: 7,701
- Baden-Württemberg: 5,442
- Hesse: 2,856
- Lower Saxony: 2,731
- Berlin: 1,601
- Hamburg: 1,537
- Rhineland-Palatinate: 1,297
- Schleswig-Holstein: 1,184
- Saxony: 599
- Brandenburg: 463
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: 297
- Saxony-Anhalt: 283
- Thuringia: 239
- Bremen: 238
- Saarland: 164
New figures from tax authorities show that some cities have a very high number of millionaires. To clarify, Bild emphasizes that many authorities calculate this based on "millionaire density"—that is, how many millionaires earn income per 10,000 residents. Others provide more precise figures.
The newspaper combined both values and refrained from listing them. The results show which cities have the most people with an annual income of over one million euros (measured per 10,000 inhabitants). Munich leads by a wide margin, while the banking metropolis of Frankfurt lags far behind in the middle of the pack.
Munich – 2,430 income millionaires
Hamburg – 1,537 income millionaires
Berlin – 1,491 income millionaires
Cologne – 730 income millionaires
Düsseldorf – 718 income millionaires
Frankfurt am Main – 527 income millionaires
Stuttgart – 527 income millionaires
Baden-Baden – 198 income millionaires
Saarbrücken – 159 income millionaires
Wiesbaden: 136 income millionaires
Hanover – 122 income millionaires
Leipzig: 84 income millionaires, Dresden follows with 80
The wealthiest district, by the way, is Starnberg in Bavaria . It has 26.4 millionaires per 10,000 inhabitants.
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