Indian-American wealth by metro: population vs. millionaires

Ask where Indian Americans live and the answer is a population ranking: New York first by a wide margin, then Dallas–Fort Worth, San Francisco–Oakland, Chicago and San Jose [1]. Ask where the largest Indian-American fortunes are concentrated and the ranking changes. This post puts the Census Bureau's metro population figures beside our own counts of people in the HeyAlbert database at an estimated $1M+, $5M+ and $25M+.

The headline: the combined San Francisco Bay Area has about 478,000 residents of Asian Indian descent, roughly two-thirds of New York's 737,160, yet it has more people in our database at $25M+ than the New York metro does [1][4].

The population ranking

The American Community Survey's 2020–2024 estimates count 737,160 people of Asian Indian descent, alone or in combination, in the New York–Newark–Jersey City metro area, followed by Dallas–Fort Worth (286,619) and San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont (269,131) [1]. Growth since the 2015–2019 survey was fastest in Austin (about 50%), Dallas–Fort Worth (about 47%) and Seattle (about 41%), and slowest in Los Angeles (about 2%) and New York (about 7%) [1][2] (our calculation).

HeyAlbert metro	Census metro area(s)	Asian Indian, 2020–2024	Change since 2015–19	Share of metro
NYC metro (incl. N. NJ, LI, Westchester)	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	737,160	7%	3.7%
SF Bay Area	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA + San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	478,137	17%	7.2%
Dallas–Fort Worth	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	286,619	47%	3.6%
Chicago	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	256,999	9%	2.7%
Washington DC	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	205,582	11%	3.3%
Los Angeles / OC	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	180,086	2%	1.4%
Houston	Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	171,978	12%	2.3%
Atlanta	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	167,342	26%	2.7%
Seattle	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	157,318	41%	3.9%
Central NJ / Philadelphia	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	147,999	10%	2.4%
Boston	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	117,272	19%	2.4%
Tampa / Orlando	Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL + Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	97,752	25%	1.6%
Austin	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	78,689	50%	3.2%
South Florida	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	66,290	18%	1.1%
San Diego	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	53,248	23%	1.6%

Sources: ACS 5-year estimates, Table B02018 (2020–2024 and 2015–2019) and Table B01003 (2020–2024) [1][2][3]. Change and share are our calculations. The Bay Area combines the San Francisco–Oakland–Fremont and San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metros, and Tampa / Orlando combines those two metros. Our “Central NJ / Philadelphia” region is compared with the Census Philadelphia metro; central New Jersey counties such as Middlesex are inside the Census New York metro, so the two regions do not line up exactly.

The wealth ranking in our database

In our database, the Bay Area leads every upper tier: 13,064 people at $1M+, 8,153 at $5M+ and 1,042 at $25M+ [4]. The New York metro is second at $25M+ with 815, then Seattle (261), Los Angeles / Orange County (252) and Dallas–Fort Worth (215) [4]. South Florida stands out for its size: its Census population is the smallest in this table apart from San Diego, but it has 188 people in our database at $25M+ [1][4].

HeyAlbert metro	$1M+	$5M+	$25M+	$5M+ share
SF Bay Area	13,064	8,153	1,042	62%
NYC metro (incl. N. NJ, LI, Westchester)	9,463	3,035	815	32%
Seattle	13,768	1,344	261	10%
Los Angeles / OC	2,226	1,220	252	55%
Dallas–Fort Worth	4,614	574	215	12%
South Florida	1,738	431	188	25%
Houston	2,159	336	134	16%
Boston	1,565	376	113	24%
Chicago	2,054	309	86	15%
Austin	1,538	205	56	13%
San Diego	764	274	55	36%
Washington DC	4,742	225	53	5%
Atlanta	1,256	182	51	14%
Tampa / Orlando	1,365	158	40	12%
Central NJ / Philadelphia	3,105	177	36	6%

Source: HeyAlbert database [4]. Counts of people in our database, not population totals. Our metro regions are our own groupings of cities and differ from Census metro boundaries.

Why the two rankings diverge

Three things drive the gap. First, the kind of wealth: the Bay Area's upper tier is founders, early employees and executives with equity, and Los Angeles / Orange County shows a high $5M+ share (55%) in our data too [4]. Second, the evidence we hold: in Seattle and Washington DC, most of our records come from home values, which identify many people in the $1M–5M band and relatively few above it; Washington DC has 4,742 people in our set but only 5% in the $5M+ bands [4]. Third, coverage: we have processed more public records in some regions than others, so a metro's absolute count says as much about our sources as about its families.

That is why we do not divide our counts by population to produce a “millionaire rate.” The comparison that holds up is within our own data: the mix of bands in each metro, and how that mix differs from the population picture.

What it means for outreach

Population size is a poor guide to where high-net-worth Indian-American families are. Dallas–Fort Worth and Chicago are larger communities than the Bay Area's San Jose half, but our $25M+ counts there are a fraction of the Bay Area's. South Florida and Los Angeles punch above their population weight. For advisors, nonprofits and luxury brands, the right market list depends on which tier you serve. Our state-by-state posts, such as California, Texas and New York, go a level deeper.

Methodology

Census figures are ACS 5-year estimates (2020–2024 and 2015–2019), Table B02018, “Asian Indian, alone or in any combination,” for Census metropolitan statistical areas [1][2], with total population from Table B01003 [3]. The Census Bureau changed how it codes detailed race responses in 2020, so part of the change may reflect coding. Estimates carry margins of error.

HeyAlbert counts are aggregates from our database as of October 2026. They include people we identified as likely of Indian origin with an estimated net worth of $1M or more, based on public records such as property assessments, professional licenses, patents, SEC filings and donor rolls. Coverage is partial and uneven across places, because it depends on which public records exist and which we have processed. These are counts of people in our database, not population totals. Any cell under 25 is suppressed, and we publish aggregates only, never individual records.

Related research

• Which US metro areas have the most affluent Indian American communities?
• How many Indian American millionaires and billionaires are there?

HeyAlbert finds Indian-American families worth $1M+ and tells you who to call, with every fact cited. Explore the people behind these totals at heyalbert.site.

Sources

1. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all metropolitan statistical areas. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=010XX00US$3100000 (data: machine-readable)
2. ACS 2015–2019 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all metropolitan statistical areas. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2019.B02018?g=010XX00US$3100000 (data: machine-readable)
3. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003 (total population), all metropolitan statistical areas. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=010XX00US$3100000 (data: machine-readable)
4. HeyAlbert database, aggregate counts (October 2026 snapshot); how we build it is described on our methodology page. HeyAlbert. https://heyalbert.site/research/methodology/