Millionaire households on the rise in Las Vegas Valley: report
The Las Vegas Valley had roughly 879 millionaire households in 2023, according to a new study
That’s up 166 percent from 2019, when the valley had 331 millionaires, according to the study from Rent Cafe, which is owned by Yardi and used the latest U.S. Census Bureau data.
Before the pandemic, approximately one in 10 millionaires in the valley was a renter and as of the end of 2023 that number was one in 33, the study shows. This goes against a national trend that has seen a rise in millionaire renters in such cities as Houston, Dallas, Miami and Atlanta.
Las Vegas-based luxury real estate broker Ivan Sher said he’s seen a surge in wealthy California residents relocating here for a number of reasons, including cost of living, pandemic restrictions and unhappiness with the state’s political leanings.
“It’s no surprise to see the number of millionaire households in Las Vegas tripling since 2019. We’ve felt that momentum firsthand. The city has transformed into a magnet for high-net-worth individuals who want more space, better quality of life, and the energy of a city that’s constantly evolving,” he said.
California has made up approximately a third of new residents to Nevada for decades, and Los Angeles specifically has topped Redfin’s immigration surveys for residents moving to Las Vegas consistently since the start of the pandemic.
More Californians moved to Nevada last year than in 2023, showing a potential turnaround in relocation trends, according to Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles data obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In 2024, 38,970 Californians moved to the Silver State, topping the 2023 total of 36,507, according to driver’s license surrender numbers from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles obtained by the Review-Journal. The high water mark for Californians moving to Nevada was in 2021 (47,376) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That number dropped to 42,569 in 2022.
Several high-profile business leaders have already made the jump from California to Las Vegas, including billionaire Andrew Cherng, co-founder of Panda Express, David Chao, co-founder and general partner at DCM, a multibillion-dollar venture capital firm and Teddy Liaw, founder of NexRep.
One recent setback for the high-net worth crowd in the valley was a bill to lure two Hollywood studios to Southern Nevada that died during the legislative session. Sher said it’s obviously not good news for the immediate future prospects of the valley, but it won’t impede the area’s growth in terms of expanding its sports and entertainment footprint.
“The movie studio bill not passing was a missed opportunity, but it doesn’t slow us down,” he said. “Vegas is still on the cusp of something major. From F1 to the Super Bowl, NHL, NFL, and even talks of MLB, the city’s infrastructure is growing to support high-income industries. This is just the beginning.”
Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.
