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Mapped: Which States Have Produced the Most Billionaires?
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Key Takeaways
- New York leads the U.S. in billionaire births, with 90—more than California and Texas combined.
- On a per-capita basis, New York still ranks first, while Massachusetts and Missouri stand out as overperformers.
The U.S. has produced more billionaires than any other country, and some states have generated far more than others.
This map shows where America’s billionaires were born, based on a 2026 PlayersTime analysis of the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
It covers 1,647 billionaires with available birthplace data and compares both each state’s total billionaire births and its rate per 1 million people.
Most Billionaires Born Per Capita
Adjusting for population by taking each state’s figure per one million people, there are some surprising results, such as the strong showing of both Massachusetts (3.2) and Missouri (2.6). These states outperform all but one of their peers in terms of per-capita billionaire births.
The data table below lists the states in which the most billionaires have been born by both sheer total and on a per-capita basis.
| State | Billionaires per 1 million people | Total number of billionaires |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 4.5 | 90 |
| Massachusetts | 3.2 | 23 |
| Missouri | 2.6 | 16 |
| Hawaii | 2.1 | 3 |
| Illinois | 2.0 | 25 |
| Nebraska | 2.0 | 4 |
| Maryland | 1.9 | 12 |
| Iowa | 1.9 | 6 |
| New Mexico | 1.9 | 4 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.8 | 23 |
| Rhode Island | 1.8 | 2 |
| Michigan | 1.7 | 17 |
| Montana | 1.7 | 2 |
| Wyoming | 1.7 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 1.5 | 6 |
| New Jersey | 1.4 | 13 |
| Connecticut | 1.4 | 5 |
| Alaska | 1.4 | 1 |
| California | 1.3 | 51 |
| Ohio | 1.3 | 15 |
| Arkansas | 1.3 | 4 |
| North Dakota | 1.3 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 1.2 | 7 |
| Oregon | 1.2 | 5 |
| Texas | 1.0 | 32 |
| Kansas | 1.0 | 3 |
| Georgia | 0.9 | 10 |
| Indiana | 0.9 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 0.9 | 5 |
| Louisiana | 0.9 | 4 |
| Nevada | 0.9 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 0.8 | 6 |
| Utah | 0.8 | 3 |
| Virginia | 0.7 | 6 |
| Mississippi | 0.7 | 2 |
| Washington | 0.6 | 5 |
| West Virginia | 0.6 | 1 |
| North Carolina | 0.4 | 4 |
| Alabama | 0.4 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 0.4 | 2 |
| South Carolina | 0.4 | 2 |
| Florida | 0.3 | 7 |
| Colorado | 0.2 | 1 |
| Arizona | 0.1 | 1 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 0 | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 |
If Massachusetts and Missouri surprise, then New York (4.5) certainly does not. Despite being one of the most populous states, as well as being home to the poorest congressional district in the country, the Empire State manages to outperform the other 49 states even by per-capita measurements.
In large part, this is owing to New York City, which has birthed more billionaires than anywhere else worldwide.
The Biggest Billionaire Birthplace States
Unsurprisingly given its high per-capita rate and population, New York scores the top spot in sheer numbers (with 90) as well.
Among the analyzed billionaires, more billionaires were born in the Empire State than in the next two most prominent states, California (51) and Texas (32), combined, despite the fact that both of those states are more populous than New York and house massive industries such as energy and technology.
In light of this, New York’s sky-high position reflects not only its namesake city’s central role in the global economy, but also its historic wealth centers like Westchester Country, which has the highest property taxes in the country.
The Richest Person Born in the U.S.
Per Forbes, the world’s richest man as of 2026 is Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa before making his fortune in the United States. Musk’s net worth is over $800 billion as of 2026.
However, runner-up and Google cofounder Larry Page, who has a net worth of nearly $250 billion, was born in Lansing, Michigan, making him the richest individual worldwide to be born in the United States.
Following Page, the next richest U.S.-born individual would be Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, fourth on the Forbes list, who was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and currently has a net worth of roughly $225 billion.
Learn More on the Voronoi App
If you enjoyed today’s post, check out Breaking Down the Wealth of America’s Top 20 Billionaires on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.