Letchworth State Park, New YorkPhoto: Daniel Christensen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Downtown in Kings County, New YorkPhoto: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Courthouse in Kings County, New YorkPhoto: Unknown artist, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cost of living in New York

Rent, income, home value and property tax for New York, home to 19.9M people, then the same for each of its 62 counties. Every figure is the published one, with its source named.

Median rent: $1,621; Census ACS, B25064, monthly
Median household income: $85,974; Census ACS, B19013, yearly
Median home value: $423,800; Census ACS, B25077
Median property tax bill: $6,582; Census ACS, B25103, yearly, current owners
Mean commute: 33 min; Census ACS, DP03, one way
Unemployment: 6.4%; Census ACS, DP03

New York's own published state rows, never an average of its counties. Prices overall run 8% above the national average (BEA regional price parity, 2024).

Census ACS 2024 five-year estimates, checked November 2026.

The three most populous counties in New York

These are the most populous places in New York, not a match to you. Set what matters to you on Find your fit and this becomes your three closest matches here. Made-up answers work too. This is a tool, not a survey.

Kings County
Population
2.63M
Rent
$1,833
Household income
$80,263
Prop. tax (yearly)
$6,382
Plan
Queens County
Population
2.32M
Rent
$1,956
Household income
$86,136
Prop. tax (yearly)
$6,297
Plan
New York County
Population
1.63M
Rent
$2,197
Household income
$103,931
Prop. tax (yearly)
—
Plan

New York, worth the trip

Ratified the Constitution on July 26, 1788, as the 11th state. Kingston served as the first state capital before Albany, on the Hudson River, took the role in 1797. The Bank of New York dates to 1784 and the New York Stock Exchange to 1817.

Statue of Liberty National Monument
The Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, dedicated on October 28, 1886.
Women's Rights National Historical Park
The Seneca Falls site of the first Women's Rights Convention, held on July 19 and 20, 1848.
Fire Island National Seashore
Barrier island beaches, high dunes, an old maritime forest and historic landmarks.

History: Encyclopaedia Britannica. Each place links to the page of the agency that looks after it.

Property tax in New York

Current owners in New York pay a median 1.55% of home value a year in property tax. Example: $6,582 a year, the median bill. By county, the median bill runs from $2,440 in Franklin County to $8,494 in Orange County. These are bills that current owners pay, as the Census measures them. Each county's own figure is in the table below.

In New York state law limits assessed value growth on one to three family homes to 6% a year and 20% over five years, with no reset at sale. A buyer inherits the seller's capped value, so these owners' figures are a fair guide for a buyer too.

Health in New York

Life expectancy: 79.4 yrs; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS vital statistics
No health insurance: 5.7%; County Health Rankings, from Census SAHIE, people under 65
Poor or fair health: 16.1%; County Health Rankings, from CDC BRFSS. Modeled, not counted
Injury deaths per 100K people: 60; County Health Rankings, from CDC NCHS, counted deaths

Each is the figure County Health Rankings publishes for New York as a whole, never an average of its counties. Each county's own health readings are on its page.

Natural hazards in New York

Expected yearly loss, statewide: $4.3B; All natural hazards, an average year. Larger states lose more
Building loss rate: $0.98; Per $1,000 of building value, each year. Fair to compare between states
Costliest hazard: Inland flooding; $2.8B of the expected yearly loss, the largest share of any hazard FEMA assesses
Air quality: —; The EPA publishes air quality by county and metro area, never by state. It is on each county's page

FEMA publishes a risk score for counties and none for states, so none is shown here. Each county's score is on its own page.

New homes permitted in New York

Permitted in 2025

38,667homes

Per 1,000 residents

1.9

Single-family · larger buildings

11,499 · 27,168

37K2020
40K2021
53K2022
49K2023
47K2024
39K2025

New York approved permits for 38,667 new homes in 2025. That is about 1.9 homes for every 1,000 people. 11,499 were single-family houses, and 27,168 were in buildings with two or more homes. From 2020 to 2025 the yearly count stayed between 37,330 and 53,360.

47th of the 50 states and DC by homes permitted per 1,000 residents in 2025.

A permit lets a home be built. It does not mean the home is finished. Some offices did not report, so part of this figure is a Census estimate. The offices that did report account for 35,160. Source: US Census Building Permits Survey, annual 2025 data.

Side by side

Kings County, NY is the largest county here. Set it beside another place, reading by reading.

The largest counties in New York

By population, from the Census release named below. Each opens its own page.

All 62 counties in New York

Each has its published readings on its own page. Press a column to sort by it. Pick one, or open the map to see them shaded side by side.


Albany County	$1,313	$85,333	$294,600	$5,200	317K	683
Allegany County	$763	$62,869	$101,700	$2,968	47.2K	97
Bronx County	$1,458	$48,676	$529,500	$5,447	1.4M	6,032
Broome County	$941	$62,616	$154,900	$3,902	197K	314
Cattaraugus County	$770	$59,540	$113,100	$2,991	76.1K	150
Cayuga County	$942	$67,904	$171,000	$3,740	75.1K	110
Chautauqua County	$812	$58,351	$127,900	$2,901	126K	168
Chemung County	$1,059	$63,716	$141,100	$3,451	82.1K	98
Chenango County	$875	$62,948	$137,900	$3,120	46.3K	55
Clinton County	$1,003	$71,224	$180,600	$3,606	78.5K	189
Columbia County	$1,260	$81,528	$347,100	$4,852	61.1K	111
Cortland County	$984	$70,418	$162,100	$4,149	46.2K	37
Delaware County	$880	$63,337	$183,100	$3,145	44.5K	108
Dutchess County	$1,582	$99,478	$400,600	$7,562	298K	552
Erie County	$1,090	$72,839	$233,800	$4,622	951K	1,213
Essex County	$934	$71,661	$211,900	$3,119	37K	188
Franklin County	$843	$65,151	$145,400	$2,440	46.7K	146
Fulton County	$912	$66,533	$163,100	$3,364	52.5K	85
Genesee County	$929	$73,314	$170,500	$4,113	57.8K	102
Greene County	$1,004	$77,945	$271,600	$4,056	47.4K	140
Hamilton County	$912	$68,835	$260,200	$2,597	5,089	40
Herkimer County	$823	$68,515	$147,700	$3,107	59.8K	54
Jefferson County	$1,213	$66,301	$188,200	$2,899	115K	288
Kings County	$1,833	$80,263	$905,000	$6,382	2.63M	6,844
Lewis County	$837	$68,182	$166,100	$2,688	26.6K	133
Livingston County	$931	$74,001	$174,600	$4,286	61.5K	80
Madison County	$928	$75,499	$184,600	$4,181	67.3K	187
Monroe County	$1,173	$76,382	$213,700	$5,616	754K	755
Montgomery County	$940	$64,943	$157,500	$3,872	49.5K	105
Nassau County	$2,252	$146,202	$684,700	—	1.39M	821
New York County	$2,197	$103,931	$1,090,500	—	1.63M	2,984
Niagara County	$899	$69,633	$189,800	$4,155	211K	271
Oneida County	$944	$70,154	$182,600	$3,690	229K	254
Onondaga County	$1,108	$76,945	$200,200	$4,880	471K	1,701
Ontario County	$1,150	$82,324	$222,900	$4,565	113K	467
Orange County	$1,680	$97,178	$387,900	$8,494	407K	1,668
Orleans County	$874	$65,969	$140,800	$3,823	39.6K	34
Oswego County	$967	$69,183	$151,700	$3,646	118K	153
Otsego County	$987	$68,885	$179,100	$3,041	60.1K	125
Putnam County	$1,775	$126,257	$471,300	—	98.1K	72
Queens County	$1,956	$86,136	$723,800	$6,297	2.32M	3,395
Rensselaer County	$1,217	$87,915	$258,400	$5,301	160K	335
Richmond County	$1,733	$98,333	$675,500	$6,247	495K	508
Rockland County	$1,901	$109,959	$596,900	—	342K	429
Saratoga County	$1,394	$100,787	$348,600	$4,875	238K	884
Schenectady County	$1,194	$79,623	$235,700	$5,568	160K	110
Schoharie County	$909	$70,133	$192,500	$3,914	30K	35
Schuyler County	$899	$67,663	$171,800	$3,390	17.6K	54
Seneca County	$957	$68,089	$155,400	$3,403	32.9K	58
St. Lawrence County	$818	$62,850	$121,900	$2,844	107K	221
Steuben County	$894	$65,887	$137,900	$3,386	92.6K	104
Suffolk County	$2,255	$130,686	$578,400	—	1.53M	1,399
Sullivan County	$1,106	$72,382	$249,000	$4,969	79.7K	568
Tioga County	$928	$72,739	$160,800	$3,751	47.9K	154
Tompkins County	$1,411	$74,024	$290,900	$6,515	105K	471
Ulster County	$1,425	$86,271	$352,500	$6,238	183K	434
Warren County	$1,105	$78,442	$267,400	$3,936	65.5K	243
Washington County	$1,033	$73,495	$196,200	$3,946	60.5K	84
Wayne County	$938	$74,506	$170,000	$4,250	90.9K	414
Westchester County	$1,951	$118,976	$663,200	—	1M	996
Wyoming County	$802	$69,110	$162,300	$3,650	39.8K	70
Yates County	$834	$69,701	$184,700	$3,477	24.5K	87

Household income, home value and population are on each county's own page, and in this table on a wider screen.

Where these numbers come from

Each reading is the published figure, not an estimate. A dash means the source did not publish one, or published one too uncertain to print.

State figures: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 20245-year estimates, the state's own row (tables B25064, B19013, B25077, B25103, B01003, DP03).
County figures: the same survey, each county's own row, as on every county page.
Price level: Bureau of Economic Analysis, regional price parities, 2024, all items, state-level.
Health: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025, University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, the state's own row. Poor or fair health is a modeled estimate from CDC survey data. The other three are counted or calculated.
Natural hazards: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025, state table, expected annual loss. This product uses FEMA data but is not endorsed by FEMA.
Air quality has no state figure: the EPA publishes it by county and metro area only.
Photographs: Wikimedia Commons and the county photo feed, each credited to its photographer under its own licence, beneath the picture.

What to do with these numbers

Every number here is public. The site adds your side of it: New York next to your own state, by what you value.

See New York beside your own state
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Pick a county here and make it your target
The three counties above each carry Set as target. From there the Journey lays out the runway and the steps. An account keeps it private and yours across devices.
See the three counties

New York at a glance

The three most populous counties in New York

Kings County

Queens County

New York County