Surging NYC Rents Mean Only 5% Are Affordable for Average Salary

Soaring rents and high upfront costs mean that fewer than 5% of New York City apartments were affordable for the average local worker last year.

New Yorkers earned on average just under $89,000 last year, meaning they could afford up to $2,216 per month on housing without spending more than 30% of their annual income, according to a new report by Zillow Group Inc.’s StreetEasy and tech:nyc. Factoring in average upfront costs, which includes the first month’s rent, a security deposit and broker fees that amounted to $10,454 last year, the average worker could only afford 4.4% of rentals on the market without breaching that affordability threshold, ...