High-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) – defined as someone who has more than $1M in assets excluding their primary residence – can live anywhere in the world. But their decision on where to live is often based upon three factors: opportunity to build wealth, opportunity to invest and opportunity to maximize lifestyle.

The latest Knight Frank City Wealth Index is built around these three 3 factors – wealth, investment and lifestyle – and the cities that make up the Top 20 Globally for HNWI’s to live in, feature some long-term winners and some up and coming cities that may surprise you.

The rankings take into account the population size of a city’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). In terms of HNWIs, Tokyo reigns supreme with 488,582, and New York has seen the highest growth with an additional 55,434 HNWIs.

The index also considers investment opportunities, tallying major commercial and residential property investments by private individuals and family offices. They measured factors in terms of total volume of investment and the diversity of investors in terms of nationality.

North American cities dominate for private investment, occupying six of the top 10 spots in this category, with New York in top place. But London remains top for diversity of investors.

Finally, the ranking reflects several lifestyle factor, including the number and quality of universities, the safety of the city, and the volume of five-star hotels and leading restaurants.

Two cities dominate this category: London and Tokyo. London leads, owing to the high number of five-star hotels – 76 – and the number and quality of its universities. Tokyo ranks highest for luxury dining and is the safest city according to the Economist Safe Cities Index.

Check out the Top 20 cities on the index:

  1. London, UK
  2. New York, US
  3. Hong King, China
  4. Singapore
  5. Los Angeles, US
  6. Chicago, US
  7. Shanghai, China
  8. Sydney, Australia
  9. Tokyo, Japan
  10. Toronto, Canada
  11. Paris, France
  12. Berlin, Germany
  13. Frankfurt, Germany
  14. Beijing, China
  15. Seoul, South Korea
  16. San Francisco, US
  17. Munich, Germany
  18. 18.Washington, US
  19. Atlanta, US
  20. Amsterdam, The Netherlands