10 Most Luxury-Obsessed States and What People Are Searching for

Thousands of people who are luxury-obsessed are searching online for luxury items and properties each month across the U.S. To find out what’s being looked for the most, the research team at Refermate gathered data and analyzed over 8,000 search terms, including “luxury jewelry,” “luxury brands,” ”luxury apartments” and “luxury cars.” In addition, it calculated the average number of monthly searches per 100,000 people to find the most luxury-obsessed states.

Here are the top 10 most luxury-obsessed states and what people are searching for online. 

Also see six luxury stores only rich people buy from.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 10,735
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “luxury family hotels”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “upscale apartments near me”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Louis Vuitton pocketbook”

Fancy hotels and high-end luxury retailers are two things New York City is well-known for. One weekend night in The Plaza Hotel in a junior suite that accommodates four people boasts a total price tag of $1,868.52. And a quick search of Louis Vuitton handbags on the brand’s website yielded handbags priced between $1,500 and $5,200.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 10,264
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “best resort near me”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “luxury cruise vacations”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “LV bags”

There’s no denying Hawaii is a true paradise, which explains the keywords “best resort” and “luxury cruise.” In fact, the richest people in America want a piece of it. According to Forbes, billionaires are buying up Hawaii, including Oprah and Mark Zuckerberg. Its search of property records on Hawaii’s six main islands showed that 37 billionaires own 11% of Hawaii’s private land, which is at least 218,000 acres.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 8,806
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “LV bags”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “Louis Vuitton pocketbook”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Cartiers”

New Jersey is just a hop, skip and a jump from New York City, so it’s no wonder people in the state are using high-end luxury brand keywords in their online searches. Louis Vuitton handbags retail for thousands of dollars and Cartier sells “high jewelry,” which is hundreds of thousands of dollars, plus other expensive jewelry, watches, bags, accessories, fragrances and stationery.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 8,682
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “Maseratis”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “LV purse”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Cartiers”

If you’ve ever visited the Las Vegas strip, you know that there are plenty of high-end luxury retailers there. The Shops at Crystals features the largest Louis Vuitton in North America and it also has a Cartier store. Additionally, there’s a Maserati dealership in the city where you can easily spend over $100,000.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 8,500
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “Hermes bag”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “Burberry sneakers”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Maison Goyard bag”

It’s no surprise California made the list of luxury-obsessed states. After all, it’s home to one of the most exclusive luxury shopping destinations in the world — Rodeo Drive — located in Beverly Hills. Burberry sneakers cost around $600 to $900 a pair, while some of the most popular models of Maison Goyard bags range in price from $1,600 to $2,800 or more.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 7,974
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “luxury high-rise apartments”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “luxury apartment complex near me”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Louis Vuitton pocketbook”

Boston is one of the most expensive locations in Massachusetts. The monthly rent for a luxury apartment in the city can go as high as $20,000. And more and more luxury housing units are springing up. The Boston Globe reported in November 2023 that dozens of luxury buildings housing multimillion-dollar condos have recently been built across the city.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 943
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “upscale real estate”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “unique properties real estate”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “LV bags”

Florida is another state obsessed with luxury real estate. According to USA Today, Florida has seven of the top 10 most expensive neighborhoods in the U.S. Gables Estates in Coral Gables, which is a suburb of Miami, has an average home value of around $17 million. And average home prices in the Port Royal neighborhood in Naples, Florida, are around $16 million. 

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 7,865
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “YSL bag”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “Cartiers”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Louis Vuitton wallet”

Maryland has plenty of people interested in luxury. For one, typical home values in nine of the most expensive cities in Maryland range from $1.1 to $2.8 million. However, the three most-searched luxury keywords in the state don’t focus on property but on luxury goods, such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier and YSL. YSL handbags — branded as Saint Laurent — are priced at the lowest, around $1,000, and go up in price by thousands of dollars depending on the bag.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 7,633
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “luxury spa resort near me”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “Cartiers”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Louis Vuitton pocketbook”

Connecticut is well known for its luxury spa and wellness retreats, including Winvian Farm luxury spa in the Litchfield Hills. The spa offers 2.5 to 3-hour spa packages, which range from $383 to $670 and include services such as a one-hour Pink Himalayan Salt Massage, one hour of Tibetan sound therapy and a one-hour oxygen facial.

• Average monthly searches per 100,000 people: 7,596
• No. 1 most-searched keyword phrase: “Audi SUV”
• No. 2 most-searched keyword phrase: “Maybachs”
• No. 3 most-searched keyword phrase: “Cartiers”

People in Georgia mostly search for luxury automobiles, including Audi SUVs and Maybachs. The 2024 Audi RS Q8 starts at $125,800 and features all the luxury appointments you’d expect and more. The other most-searched vehicle is the Mercedes-Maybach. The V8 model starts at just under $200,000, while the V12 model starts at around $234,000.