April 04--Millionaires are leaving Chicago more than any other city in the United States on a net basis, according to a new report.
About 3,000 individuals with net assets of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence, moved from the city last year, with many citing rising racial tensions and worries about crime as factors in the decision, according to research firm New World Wealth. That represented about 2 percent of the city's high net worth individuals.
Cities in the United States that saw a net inflow of millionaires included Seattle and San Francisco.
Chicago was among four cities worldwide with the biggest flight of millionaires.
Paris saw the largest exodus.
The French city lost 7,000, or 6 percent, of its millionaires, followed by Rome, which lost 5,000, or 7 percent.
Chicago was next, followed by Athens.
Most of the millionaires who left Paris and Rome fled their countries, while Chicagoans moved elsewhere in the United States, said New World Wealth, whose data is used by luxury-goods companies, private banks and real estate professionals, among others.
Findings of the New World Wealth report are consistent with a Nielsen study released late last year that showed Chicago is losing large numbers of affluent African-Americans.
The Nielsen report found that the Chicago area has fallen out of the top echelon of U.S. cities when it comes to the percentage of black households earning more than $100,000. In 2000, Chicago ranked seventh among the cities with the largest percentage of black households with income at that level or higher, but in 2015, Chicago had dropped out of the top 10.
In the New World Wealth report, the country with the biggest net outflow of millionaires was France, with 10,000. It was followed by China, Italy, India and Greece.
The countries with the biggest net inflows of millionaires were Australia, the United States, Canada, Israel, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.
Sources for the millionaire-migration study, the third done by New World Wealth, include: interviews with about 800 millionaires a year; interviews with migration experts, wealth managers and property agents; property sales records; and tracking of millionaire movements in the media.
Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000.
byerak@tribpub.com
