The US States With the Most Billionaires in 2026
California has 255 billionaire residents, more than any other state — but Texas leads in combined billionaire wealth at $1.94 trillion. Forbes' October 2026 wealth snapshot puts Elon Musk's fortune at about $1 trillion, helping Texas take the top spot despite having just 88 billionaires.
Quick Answer
California has the most billionaire residents of any US state in 2026, with 255, according to Forbes. New York is second with 153, followed by Florida (138) and Texas (88). Massachusetts and Illinois tie for fifth at 31 each, and Georgia and Pennsylvania tie for eighth at 21 — so the top 10 contains no #6 or #9. Ranked by total wealth instead, Texas leads: its billionaires are worth a combined $1.94 trillion, ahead of California's $1.87 trillion in Forbes' October 2026 wealth snapshot.
This ranking uses Forbes' 2026 figures for the number of billionaire residents in each US state. States are ordered by headcount; the full top 10 and the comparisons with 2022 come from Forbes' ‘Top 10 States With the Most Billionaires’ ranking post (October 23, 2026), whose 2022–2025 comparison amounts are as of Forbes' annual World's Billionaires list. The key distinction is that the state with the most billionaires is not the state with the most billionaire wealth: Texas leads the wealth table, largely because of Elon Musk's fortune.
Most billionaires ≠ most billionaire wealth
California's 255 billionaires have a combined estimated wealth of $1.87 trillion. Texas has only 88 billionaire residents, but their combined wealth is $1.94 trillion — $70 billion more than California's. Elon Musk's estimated $1 trillion fortune in Forbes' October 9, 2026 snapshot is a major reason for Texas's lead.
Billionaire residents by US state, 2026
Source: Forbes, ‘Top 10 States With the Most Billionaires’ (October 23, 2026)Tap any state to jump to its full breakdown below.
Ranked #10 to #1
Connecticut
20 billionaires · +6 since 2022- Billionaire residents:
- 20
- Category:
- Northeast
Connecticut rounds out the top 10, with 20 billionaire residents.
Connecticut's count is up 42.9% since 2022 (from 14) — the second-fastest growth rate in this ranking, behind only Florida.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Pennsylvania
21 billionaires · +4 since 2022 · tied at #8- Billionaire residents:
- 21
- Category:
- Northeast
Pennsylvania has 21 billionaire residents and shares eighth place with Georgia.
Pennsylvania's tie with Georgia is one of two ties in this ranking — the ties are why the top 10 skips rank 9 (and rank 6) entirely.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Georgia
21 billionaires · +4 since 2022 · tied at #8- Billionaire residents:
- 21
- Category:
- South
Georgia also counts 21 billionaire residents, level with Pennsylvania at eighth.
Georgia and Pennsylvania have moved in lockstep: both had 17 billionaires in 2022 and both counts rose by exactly four by 2026.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Nevada
24 billionaires · +6 since 2022- Billionaire residents:
- 24
- Category:
- West
Nevada ranks seventh with 24 billionaire residents, the second-highest count in the West after California.
Nevada is the only state in the top 10 ranks with fewer than 30 billionaires but clear of the tie below it — it stands alone at #7 between the two tied pairs.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Illinois
31 billionaires · +8 since 2022 · tied at #5- Billionaire residents:
- 31
- Category:
- Midwest
Illinois has 31 billionaire residents and shares fifth place with Massachusetts — the Midwest's only entry in the top 10 ranks.
Illinois's count rose by more (+8) than its tied partner Massachusetts's (+7) to reach the same 31, having started one behind in 2022 (23 vs 24).
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Massachusetts
31 billionaires · +7 since 2022 · tied at #5- Billionaire residents:
- 31
- Category:
- Northeast
Massachusetts counts 31 billionaire residents, tied with Illinois for fifth place.
There is a cliff either side of the #5 tie: Texas above it has nearly three times as many billionaires (88), and Nevada below it has seven fewer (24).
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Texas
88 billionaires · +19 since 2022 · #1 by total wealth- Billionaire residents:
- 88
- Category:
- South
Texas ranks fourth by headcount with 88 billionaire residents — but first by money, with a combined $1.94 trillion in billionaire wealth.
Forbes attributes Texas's wealth lead largely to one resident: Elon Musk, put at about $1 trillion in Forbes' October 9, 2026 snapshot. Texas's 88 billionaires hold $70 billion more combined wealth than California's 255.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
Florida
138 billionaires · +47 since 2022- Billionaire residents:
- 138
- Category:
- South
Florida is third with 138 billionaire residents, closing on New York after the fastest expansion in the ranking.
Florida's billionaire count increased by 47 between 2022 and 2026 — from 91 to 138, a rise of 51.6%, the fastest percentage growth among the states in this ranking and the second-largest absolute increase after California.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
New York
153 billionaires · +24 since 2022- Billionaire residents:
- 153
- Category:
- Northeast
New York is second with 153 billionaire residents, holding its place despite the slowest growth rate in the top four.
New York's count grew 18.6% since 2022 — the slowest of any state here — yet it still has nearly five times as many billionaires as the tied fifth-place states.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
California
255 billionaires · +76 since 2022 · #2 by total wealth- Billionaire residents:
- 255
- Category:
- West
California is home to 255 billionaires, more than any other state by a wide margin. Its billionaire count increased by 76 between 2022 and 2026, the largest absolute increase among the states in this ranking.
California has 102 more billionaires than second-place New York — a gap bigger than Texas's entire billionaire population (88). Its combined billionaire wealth, though, is $1.87 trillion, now second to Texas's $1.94 trillion.
Source: Forbes (October 2026)
What the numbers tell us
The 10 states in this ranking hold 782 billionaires between them, and the top four — California, New York, Florida and Texas — account for 634 of them, about 81%. The two ties (=5 and =8) are why ranks 6 and 9 are skipped. Every state in the ranking has more billionaires than in 2022; Florida grew fastest in percentage terms (+51.6%) and California's count rose the most (+76). Percentages, combined totals and gaps quoted here are our own calculations from Forbes' published counts.
- Data period:
- Forbes ranking post, October 23, 2026, and Forbes article, October 14, 2026; wealth estimates are Forbes' October 9, 2026 valuation snapshot; 2022–2025 comparison amounts as of Forbes' annual World's Billionaires list
- Last updated:
- October 24, 2026
- Sources:
- Forbes, ‘How California’s Billionaire Exodus Is Changing Who’s Richest in Other States’ (October 14, 2026), for the leading state counts and the Texas–California combined-wealth comparison; Forbes, ‘Top 10 States With the Most Billionaires’ ranking post (October 23, 2026), for the full top 10, ties and 2022 comparisons, citing Forbes' annual World's Billionaires list for the 2022–2025 comparison amounts
States are ranked by the number of billionaire residents in Forbes' 2026 ranking. Massachusetts and Illinois tie at 31 billionaires and share rank 5; Georgia and Pennsylvania tie at 21 and share rank 8 — so rank 6 and rank 9 do not exist in the source. Forbes also publishes a combined-wealth figure for the top two states only: Texas ($1.94 trillion) and California ($1.87 trillion); no combined-wealth figures for the other states are given in the source, so none are shown here. Wealth figures are Forbes' estimates from its October 9, 2026 valuation snapshot — a dated snapshot, not live values: Forbes reported Musk's estimate at about $977 billion on October 13, 2026, as SpaceX shares fell, so individuals' fortunes quoted here are as of the snapshot. A state's count can change between editions through wealth changes, list coverage and residents moving between states, so changes are described as count increases or decreases, never as people ‘becoming’ billionaires. The change column is Forbes' 2022–2026 change in each state's billionaire count; the implied 2022 counts, growth percentages, combined totals and gaps quoted in the entries are our own calculations from Forbes' published figures.
Figures marked as estimates are based on publicly available information and may vary from other published sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
California, with 255 billionaire residents in Forbes' 2026 ranking. New York is second with 153, followed by Florida with 138 and Texas with 88.