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Poverty, unaffordability rise in NYC. A report says spiking housing and other costs are to blame.
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Feb 26, 2025
Modified Feb 26, 2025
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Spencer Platt/Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Feb 26, 2025
Modified Feb 26, 2025
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A new report finds poverty is on the rise in New York City due to rising living costs and the shortage of affordable housing.
One in four New Yorkers — over 2 million people — lived in poverty in 2023, nearly twice the national poverty rate, according to the "Poverty Tracker" report released Wednesday by the local antipoverty advocacy group Robin Hood and Columbia University.
The city's latest poverty rate is higher than pre-pandemic rates, and is the highest in at least eight years, researchers found. About 100,000 more New Yorkers lived in poverty in 2023 than the prior year.
“It just takes more and more to make ends meet, and people's financial resources have not kept pace,” said Richard Buery Jr., CEO of Robin Hood, at an event unveiling the report.
Asian, Black and Latino New Yorkers were about twice as likely to live in poverty compared to white New Yorkers, according to the report. The poverty rate was slightly higher for children, at 26%.
The researchers used a different metric than the official federal measure to calculate poverty rates, and accounted for government subsidies and the local cost of living. In 2023, the poverty threshold for a family of four in the city was $47,190.
Most New Yorkers, 58%, had incomes below 200% of the poverty line, the report found. That includes families of four with annual incomes below $94,380 and single adults with incomes below $43,740.
The spike in poverty in 2023 followed another increase in 2022, and the end of pandemic-era federal aid.
The report is based on thrice-a-year surveys of more than 3,000 families that are conducted by a Columbia University team.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a Republican budget resolution that calls for $2 trillion cuts in federal spending over a decade, including deep cuts for Medicaid and food stamps, formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Those federal spending cuts will continue to drive up poverty rates in the future, according to Peggy Bailey, executive vice president for policy and program development at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a federal think tank.
She pointed to declines in poverty during the pandemic as evidence of the impact of increased government benefits.
“There’s no question about it,” Bailey said. “Taking away people's food assistance, their access to healthcare coverage, taking away cash from them…will make poverty worse.”
This article was updated with additional information.
Tagged
food
new york city
housing
economy
Race And Justice Unit
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
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