A comprehensive wealth index for cities in Germany

• We apply the capital stock approach to measure wealth in German cities. The approach reflects the environmental, energy, social, human, and economic performance of the cities.
• We compare our ranking with the average housing rates in German cities.
• There is no inherent trade-off between economic and environmental capital stocks.
• Clear regional differences exist between West and East Germany and between North and South Germany.
• The comprehensive wealth index is strongly correlated with housing rents, which reflect individual willingness to pay for living in a certain city.

We apply a comprehensive wealth index for the 100 largest autonomous cities in Germany to measure their endowment with environmental, energy, social, human, and economic capital stocks. We find that (i) there is no inherent trade-off between economic and environmental capital stocks; (ii) clear regional differences exist between West and East Germany and between North and South Germany; and (iii) the comprehensive wealth index is strongly correlated with housing rents, which reflect individual willingness to pay for living in a certain city.