What there is to know
- According to a recent report by StreetEasy, less than 15% of rents in the Big Apple are affordable for African-Americans and Hispanics New Yorkers who earn median household incomes, showing the racial gap in housing affordability. rents rooted in wealth and income disparities for decades. .
- Thirty-seven percent of citywide market rental listings, or about one in three, between January and March of this year were affordable for a typical household earning the city’s combined median income of 70 $663. This is a significant drop given that during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, about one in two rental listings, or 51%, were affordable to New Yorkers.
- According to census data, in terms of median income, typical African American and Hispanic households in the city earned 57 cents and 52 cents, respectively, for every dollar earned by a white household between 2017 and 2021.
NEW YORK — Less than 15% of rents in the Big Apple are affordable for African-American and Hispanic New Yorkers earning median household incomes, according to a recent report by StreetEasy, showing the racial gap in affordability rents entrenched for decades disparities in wealth and income.
Thirty-seven percent of citywide market rental listings, or about one in three, between January and March of this year were affordable for a typical household earning the city’s combined median income of 70 $663. This is a significant drop given that during the same period in 2019, before the pandemic, about one in two rental listings, or 51%, were affordable to New Yorkers.
This year, New Yorkers earning the median white household income of $93,919 can afford 64% of the city’s rental inventory, down from 75% in 2019, the study found, citing the data. on census income. Meanwhile, African Americans in New York who earn a median household income of $53,075 and Hispanics who earn a median household income of $49,275 can only pay 14% and 10%, respectively, this year . This is down from 21% and 12% in 2019. (For the study, “affordable” rentals were classified as those that cost less than 50% of a household’s combined income.)
To put these results into perspective, according to census data, when it comes to median income, typical African American and Hispanic households in the city earned 57 cents and 52 cents, respectively, for every dollar earned by a white household between 2017 and 2021. .
This income disparity and high rental rates have affected African-American and Hispanic households in several ways, according to the study.
“As a result, rising rents last year disproportionately affected non-white households in the city, leaving them with fewer funds for other necessities like food, health care and utilities, and limiting their ability to save for long-term financial goals, further education and a down payment,” the study found, adding that it would take African-American and Hispanic households 30 and 42 years, respectively, to save for a down payment, while white households would only take seven years.
As of this year, according to the study, a typical white household could pay five times more for market-price rental listings in New York City than a typical African-American household, and seven times more than a Hispanic household. . In other words, only two apartments are affordable for black and Hispanic New Yorkers compared to 10 affordable apartments for white New Yorkers.
To read the study, click here.