RelocateMath
City cost of living 2026

Cost of living in New York, NY

The New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area (19,940,274 people) ranks #4 of 149 for prices among the U.S. metro areas we cover. Here's what it costs to live there.

By Data reviewed Data: Census ACS, BEA, BLS, NOAA, IRS, FEMA (methodology)

New York, NY: price level 112.6Los Angeles, CA: price level 113.6Chicago, IL: price level 103.6Dallas, TX: price level 103.1Houston, TX: price level 98.6Miami, FL: price level 114.2Washington, D.C.: price level 108.9Atlanta, GA: price level 100.1Philadelphia, PA: price level 102.6Phoenix, AZ: price level 103.3Boston, MA: price level 108.3Riverside, CA: price level 106.4San Francisco, CA: price level 115.6Detroit, MI: price level 100.3Seattle, WA: price level 111.1Minneapolis, MN: price level 104.8Tampa, FL: price level 100.9San Diego, CA: price level 111.9Denver, CO: price level 105.8Orlando, FL: price level 101.4Charlotte, NC: price level 97.3Baltimore, MD: price level 104.5St. Louis, MO: price level 95.1San Antonio, TX: price level 94.7Austin, TX: price level 98.1Portland, OR: price level 105.4Sacramento, CA: price level 106.7Pittsburgh, PA: price level 94.7Las Vegas, NV: price level 100.2Cincinnati, OH: price level 95.4Kansas City, MO: price level 92.5Columbus, OH: price level 95.5Indianapolis, IN: price level 95.7Cleveland, OH: price level 93.9Nashville, TN: price level 96.3San Jose, CA: price level 110.4Virginia Beach, VA: price level 97.9Jacksonville, FL: price level 99.5Providence, RI: price level 101.8Milwaukee, WI: price level 96.9Raleigh, NC: price level 98.2Oklahoma City, OK: price level 90.4Louisville, KY: price level 93.1Richmond, VA: price level 97.9Memphis, TN: price level 92.2Salt Lake City, UT: price level 100.9Birmingham, AL: price level 91.6Fresno, CA: price level 102.2Grand Rapids, MI: price level 95.5Hartford, CT: price level 102.7Buffalo, NY: price level 95.8Tucson, AZ: price level 96.9Tulsa, OK: price level 89.2Rochester, NY: price level 97.0Omaha, NE: price level 91.9Honolulu, HI: price level 111.0Greenville, SC: price level 93.3Bridgeport, CT: price level 106.9New Orleans, LA: price level 92.6Knoxville, TN: price level 92.6Sarasota, FL: price level 102.4Albuquerque, NM: price level 95.5Bakersfield, CA: price level 100.9McAllen, TX: price level 85.9Albany, NY: price level 99.6Allentown, PA: price level 100.0Baton Rouge, LA: price level 90.8Worcester, MA: price level 102.5El Paso, TX: price level 89.9Columbia, SC: price level 93.7Charleston, SC: price level 101.0Cape Coral, FL: price level 102.3Lakeland, FL: price level 97.1Boise, ID: price level 98.4Oxnard, CA: price level 110.5Dayton, OH: price level 92.7Stockton, CA: price level 105.1Greensboro, NC: price level 92.9Colorado Springs, CO: price level 100.7Little Rock, AR: price level 89.4Provo, UT: price level 98.2Des Moines, IA: price level 91.7Daytona Beach, FL: price level 99.4Poughkeepsie, NY: price level 109.4Madison, WI: price level 97.3Winston-Salem, NC: price level 92.0Akron, OH: price level 93.4Ogden, UT: price level 100.3Wichita, KS: price level 88.9Palm Bay, FL: price level 100.0Syracuse, NY: price level 95.7Augusta, GA: price level 91.9Durham, NC: price level 97.6Harrisburg, PA: price level 98.7Jackson, MS: price level 89.0Fayetteville, AR: price level 91.4Spokane, WA: price level 100.3Toledo, OH: price level 91.5Chattanooga, TN: price level 91.5New Haven, CT: price level 104.6Reno, NV: price level 101.0Portland, ME: price level 101.9Port St. Lucie, FL: price level 100.2Huntsville, AL: price level 93.1Pensacola, FL: price level 97.7Lexington, KY: price level 92.9Killeen, TX: price level 91.1Springfield, MO: price level 88.6Santa Rosa, CA: price level 107.8Wilmington, NC: price level 96.4Fort Wayne, IN: price level 92.6Vallejo, CA: price level 108.5Santa Barbara, CA: price level 108.8Salinas, CA: price level 109.0Savannah, GA: price level 95.2Manchester, NH: price level 105.7Ocala, FL: price level 95.2Asheville, NC: price level 96.5Naples, FL: price level 103.2Myrtle Beach, SC: price level 93.6Anchorage, AK: price level 105.4Spartanburg, SC: price level 91.1Fayetteville, NC: price level 92.0Trenton, NJ: price level 103.2Eugene, OR: price level 101.6Fort Collins, CO: price level 101.1Ann Arbor, MI: price level 100.9Greeley, CO: price level 100.2Gainesville, FL: price level 96.7Clarksville, TN: price level 90.9Boulder, CO: price level 105.2Columbus, GA: price level 89.3Crestview, FL: price level 97.0Sioux Falls, SD: price level 90.6Olympia, WA: price level 103.7Norwich, CT: price level 100.4Bremerton, WA: price level 105.6Fargo, ND: price level 90.9Bend, OR: price level 103.6Daphne, AL: price level 94.7Prescott, AZ: price level 98.3Hilton Head Island, SC: price level 98.0Burlington, VT: price level 100.9Panama City, FL: price level 97.3Jacksonville, NC: price level 92.1Punta Gorda, FL: price level 100.5Billings, MT: price level 93.5The Villages, FL: price level 85.4Cheyenne, WY: price level 96.5

Hover over or tap a dot to see its value.

Price level of the 149 metros we cover
See all 149 cities

Price level, from cheaper to pricier.

Salary to match $75k
$98,200
vs. an average-priced, no-income-tax area
Median rent
$1,851
per month · need $74,040 income
Median home
$648,800
need about $187,587 to buy

Compare New York with your city

See what you'd need to earn in New York to keep your lifestyle, after taxes and local prices. The calculator starts from Philadelphia, PA, which sends the most households here of the metros we cover (IRS, 2022–2023), at about its median household income. Pick your own city and salary.

Equal salary in New York: $103,200

Compare any two of 149 U.S. metro areas. All cities

To keep the same lifestyle, you need about $103,200 in New York, NY to match $90,000 in Philadelphia, PA ($13,200 more), after 2026 taxes and local prices.

Single filer, W-2 salary. Uses Pennsylvania and New York state income tax; includes Philadelphia resident tax $3,362 and New York City resident tax $3,053 (inside city limits).

Take-home in Philadelphia
$65,958
26.7% total tax
Take-home in New York
$64,433
28.4% total tax
Prices in New York
+9.7%
vs Philadelphia (BEA 2024)
Renting: change after selected costs
-$4,865
per year, after taxes, rent and power; excludes food, transport, healthcare, child care and moving costs

See the full Philadelphia to New York report

What things cost in New York

Price level by category (U.S. = 100)
Above the U.S. average
Overall112.6
Housing148.6
Goods110.3
Utilities127.0
Other services105.8

The vertical line marks the U.S. average (100). BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 for the metropolitan area.

Taxes in New York

On a $100,000 salary (about the area's median household income), a single filer keeps $70,467 after 2026 federal tax ($13,170), Social Security and Medicare ($7,650) and New York income tax ($4,860), plus $412 in state payroll programs, and $3,441 in New York City resident income tax.

New York City residents pay a city income tax of 3.078%–3.876% on New York taxable income (brackets set in law, not indexed). The tax follows where you live, not where you work: people who live outside the five boroughs don't pay it, even when they commute into the city (New York City government employees are the exception). Yonkers, in Westchester County, has its own resident and nonresident taxes.

Housing

MeasureNew York area
Median rent$1,851/mo
Median home value$648,800
Median property tax$9,973/yr
Monthly cost to own the median home (20% down)$4,377
Median household income$99,852

Climate and jobs in New York

In the New York area the average January low is 28°F and the average July high 85°F, and the area has about 17 days a year at 90°F or hotter. Unemployment averaged 4.8% in 2025, above the U.S. rate (4.3%), and the median wage across all jobs was $61,430 a year, 20% above the U.S. median.

Climate in the New York area: NOAA 1991–2020 normals
Climate1991–2020 average
January low28°F
July high85°F
Days 90°F or hotter17 a year
Precipitation50 in a year
Snowfall30 in a year
Jobs and pay in the New York area compared with the U.S. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
Jobs and payMetro areaU.S.
Unemployment rate, 2025 average4.8%4.3%
Median wage, all jobs (May 2025)$61,430$50,980
Wage and salary jobs (May 2025)9.5 million155.5 million

Climate: NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020 averages at the New York Central Park Tower station (USW00094728). Weather varies across a metro area, especially with elevation and distance from the coast. Jobs: unemployment from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics; wages and job counts from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, which count wage and salary jobs, not the self-employed; wages are before taxes. The 2025 average covers 11 months: October 2025 data were not collected during the federal government shutdown.

Retiring in New York

A single retiree spends about $4,044 a month here if they own their home outright, or $4,748 renting, based on typical spending for households 65 and older (BLS 2024) adjusted for local prices. See where your budget goes furthest.

Where people move to and from New York

Leaving New York for… (households)
Miami17,217
Philadelphia17,010
Los Angeles8,964
Bridgeport8,417
Washington, D.C.8,033
Poughkeepsie7,773
Boston7,622
Orlando6,562
Moving to New York from… (households)
Philadelphia10,894
Miami9,096
Boston8,431
Los Angeles8,034
Washington, D.C.7,558
San Francisco5,827
Bridgeport5,492
Chicago4,600

IRS county-to-county migration data, 2022–2023, aggregated to the 149 metro areas we cover.

Natural hazard risk

FEMA rates the New York area among the highest for natural hazard risk (score 96.8 of 100), with expected losses of about $227 per resident per year. Disaster risk by county in New York.

Highest relative risks (national percentile)
Higher risk than most U.S. counties
Strong wind98
Winter weather98
Riverine flooding98
Heat wave97
Earthquake95

The vertical line marks the middle of U.S. counties (50).

Frequently asked questions

What salary do you need to live in New York?

To match the buying power of $75,000 in an average-priced area with no state income tax, you need about $98,200 in New York. Renting the median home at 30% of income takes $74,040, and buying the median home with 20% down takes about $187,587.

Is New York expensive?

The New York metro area's price level is 112.6 (U.S. = 100), #4 of the 149 metro areas we cover, from most to least expensive. Its housing price index is 148.6, 49% above the U.S. average.

Are people moving to New York?

Counting moves to and from the other 148 metro areas we cover, New York had a net loss of about 61,167 households in 2022–2023 (IRS county migration data).

What is the weather like in New York?

In NOAA's 1991–2020 climate normals for the New York area (New York Central Park Tower weather station), the average January low is 28°F and the average July high 85°F. The area has about 17 days a year at 90°F or hotter and gets 50 inches of precipitation a year and about 30 inches of snow.

What are jobs and pay like in New York?

The New York metro area's unemployment rate averaged 4.8% in 2025, above the U.S. rate (4.3%). The median wage across all jobs was $61,430 a year in May 2025, 20% above the U.S. median of $50,980 (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

What natural disasters affect New York?

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the area among the highest overall (score 96.8). The highest relative risks are strong wind, winter weather, riverine flooding.

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