In order to afford a slice of the Big Apple, your salary is going to need to reach well into the six figures.
That’s according to new findings from the real-estate listings website StreetEasy — saying it’s necessary to have an annual household income of at least $211,970 to buy a median-priced home in New York City.
That high figure is nearly three times more than what a buyer in the national market needs to make. The citywide median asking price as of August 2024 is $1.05 million — which is more than three times the national average.
Despite the sticker shock, the requisite salary has actually gone down lately as a result of the recent drop in mortgage rates — before which the necessary yearly wage to buy a place in the boroughs was well over $222,000, StreetEasy reported.
For this study, all numbers were calculated by taking into account the necessary income to keep up with monthly payments on a 6.5% 30-year mortgage after putting down 20% of the home price.
When looking at the numbers borough by borough, Manhattan demands the highest salary, or $308,449, to afford a median-priced home. That’s followed by Brooklyn at $212,375 and then Staten Island at $151,483. Queens, the report says, is in fourth at $136,527 and The Bronx in last at $73,826 — making it the only borough not to require a six-figure salary to own a home.
Despite it all, according to US Census data, a mere 15% of NYC households make $200,000 annually, meaning purchasing an abode in Manhattan or Brooklyn is an out-of-reach dream for the vast majority of city residents.
StreetEasy also crunched the numbers for the necessary salary for would-be homebuyers looking at median-priced homes in the lower third of the market, namely those that cost less than $730,000.
Such hopefuls need to make $110,233 a year to buy in Manhattan, $116,705 in Staten Island, $95,063 in Brooklyn, $79,893 in Queens and $56,229 in The Bronx.