Who lives in Monaco? The 2026 guide to the world’s most famous neighbourhood

Ask a resident why they moved and tax comes up, but rarely first. The pattern across interviews is consistent: the money gets people to look, while the lifestyle and logistics are what keep them here for decades.

1. Privacy is the local culture

   Monégasques are famously unbothered by fame. A world champion can buy bread or take his dog for a walk without a crowd forming, and photographing residents in private moments is socially frowned upon.

2. Security you can feel

   Monaco has one of the highest ratios of police to residents anywhere, plus extensive CCTV coverage. For people whose faces are on billboards, walking home at midnight is the real luxury.

3. No personal income tax

   Monaco does not tax residents’ income. The notable exception is French nationals, who remain liable to French income tax under a 1963 treaty. That rule explains why there are so few French celebrities among the residents.

4. An athlete’s commute

   Nice airport is a short drive away, or about seven minutes by helicopter from Fontvieille. The Alps are an hour inland for altitude training, and the coast road above the town has some of the best cycling climbs in Europe.

5. The neighbours themselves

   Once a few drivers moved in, the rest followed: sim rigs, trainers, physios and teammates within walking distance. The community has reinforced itself for decades.

No city on earth has more Formula 1 drivers. Roughly thirteen of the 2026 grid’s twenty-two drivers list Monaco as home, which means that on the morning after a race, half the sport is flying back to the same 2 km². Many of them grew up together in karting, train together on the coast road, and race each other on the street circuit that runs past their front doors.

Björn Borg started it in the 1970s, and tennis has had a Monaco address ever since. Today the Principality is home to a remarkable concentration of the tour’s top players, who train together, find hitting partners easily and enjoy year-round sunshine.

Novak Djokovic has made Monte-Carlo his base for years and is a fixture at the local club. Jannik Sinner, Italy’s multiple Grand Slam champion, lives here too, a short drive from his native Alps.

Before the racing drivers came, Monaco belonged to Hollywood. Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III in 1956, and overnight a small Riviera principality became the most glamorous address in the world. Every celebrity resident since has, in some way, been following her.

Sir Roger Moore spent decades here after his years as James Bond and is buried in the Monaco Cemetery. Fittingly, the voice of three Bond themes, Dame Shirley Bassey, also lives in the Principality. Former Beatle Ringo Starr keeps a home here as well. Fashion photographer Helmut Newton worked from Monte-Carlo from 1981 onwards, and many of his best-known images were shot around town.

The celebrities make the headlines, but the founders and investors outnumber them many times over. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the INEOS founder and Manchester United co-owner, moved his residence to Monaco in 2020. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who founded easyJet, has been based here for years. Behind them are thousands of family offices, fund managers and entrepreneurs, which is a large part of why Monaco has one of the highest concentrations of millionaires in the world.

Monaco has no suburbs, and the whole country is about a forty-minute walk end to end. Even so, its districts have distinct personalities and prices. Larvotto, on the beach side, commands the highest prices. Fontvieille, built on reclaimed land, is quieter and popular with families. Monte-Carlo has the Casino, the Hôtel de Paris and most of the postcard views.

Supply is the whole story. The newest district, Mareterra, added about six hectares of reclaimed land when it opened in late 2024, and that was the first significant growth in years. With so little new stock, celebrity demand doesn’t create the market so much as confirm it. Prime apartments here sell to people who want to live alongside exactly the neighbours listed above.

Local etiquette: a nod is welcome, but a selfie request at dinner is not. The discretion is a big part of why they live here.