Living in New York can be chaotic, exhausting and occasionally maddening. And if there’s one thing New Yorkers can agree on, it’s that rent is too high.
The metropolis is home to 8.5 million residents, who are prepared to pay top dollar to cram into a city about half the size of greater London. Median rent for a New York apartment is $3,599 a month (£2,685), more than double the US national average and up 5.4 per cent from 2024, according to figures from Realtor.com.
Soaring rents and the resulting cost-of-living pressures have become a central issue in the New York mayoral race. Zohran Mamdani, the favourite to be New York’s next mayor, has promised to break this cycle.
Zohran Mamdani has promised rent freezes, which experts fear will strangle middle-income housing
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The Democrat’s swift ascent from political unknown to mayoral frontrunner has been fuelled, in part, by a laser focus on the city’s runaway cost of living.
If elected, he has vowed to use the powers of City Hall to freeze rents in the city’s one million rent-stabilised apartments, expand affordable housing and curb the predatory practices that often make New York seem more like a luxury brand than a liveable city.
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“We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford,” he said after his surprise victory in the Democratic primary in June. “A city where they can do more than just struggle.”
Mamdani’s platform calls for freezing rents on roughly one million rent-stabilised apartments, expanding tenant protections and building 200,000 additional homes in the next decade. Critics have warned that rent freezes may backfire — discouraging maintenance, deterring investment and ultimately reducing housing quality.
Manhattan boasts nine out of the ten most expensive neighbourhoods in the city
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“Although families living in those units would see their rent frozen, the policy would have distortionary effects on the rest of the rental market,” said Jake Krimmel, a senior economist at Realtor.com.
“We will see fewer apartments on the market and fewer people moving to free up new units. So prices on market-rate units will skyrocket even higher than they already have been.”
That knock-on effect could push developers further towards the luxury end of the market, where profits are higher, leaving middle-income housing to stagnate.
Here we look at how much it costs to live across the city’s boroughs, how much rent has increased by and how the mayoral contest could shake things up.
How much have New York rents gone up by?
Although New York experienced some of the steepest rental declines of any US city during the Covid pandemic, with residents fleeing the city, prices rebounded by spring 2022.
Since October 2023 rent prices have risen each quarter, with increases ranging between 3.8 and 5.6 per cent.
By October 2025, the median asking rent in the city reached $3,599, up $185 — or 5.4 per cent — compared to the previous year.
Manhattan’s West Village
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For one and two-bedroom apartments, the increase was even steeper: the median asking rent climbed to $3,581, reflecting a $203 — or 6 per cent — year-on-year rise.
Larger apartments, with three or more bedrooms, have seen more modest growth, rising just 1 per cent to a median of $4,968.
The data underscores a familiar reality for New Yorkers: smaller apartments experience the sharpest increases, while larger units remain relatively stable.
What’s the average price for each borough?
Manhattan, the city’s bustling heart, remains by far the most expensive borough. As of October 2025, the median asking rent there stood at $4,747, up 3.3 per cent on the previous year. Its luxury high-rises, historic brownstones and proximity to offices, theatres and cultural landmarks continue to command a premium.
For such hefty sums, apartments are notoriously small: stories of kitchens barely big enough to fit a fridge are common, while storage space is considered a luxury.
Across the East River, Brooklyn has seen the fastest rent growth of any borough over the past 12 months. The median asking rent rose 6 per cent to $3,992, driven by continued demand for its trendy neighbourhoods, waterfront views and mix of converted lofts and modern condos.
In the Bronx, rents increased by 4.9 per cent to $3,155, reflecting modest but steady growth in a borough known for more affordable housing options. Queens saw a smaller bump, with median rent climbing 2.2 per cent to $3,439, as families and young professionals seek space, good schools and relative proximity to Manhattan.
How does New York compare to other cities?
New York City stands in a league of its own when it comes to rent. A 2024 study from the Deutsche Bank Research Institute found that the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre was $4,426 per month. That figure was roughly 39 per cent higher than London, which came in second at $3,189, and 41 per cent higher than Zurich at $2,905.
Also appearing in the survey’s top ten most expensive rental markets were Los Angeles, Dubai, Dublin, Amsterdam, Geneva, Sydney and Luxembourg City.
Even among these global cities, New York stands out not just for raw rent costs but for the proportion of income tenants must dedicate to housing: according to the study, New Yorkers pay 81 per cent of their monthly after-tax income towards rent, the highest rate of any US city.
What are the top neighbourhoods?
New York’s rental market is as diverse as it is expensive, but a handful of neighbourhoods consistently command the highest prices. At the top of the list is Tribeca in Lower Manhattan, with a median asking rent of $8,295 in 2024. Once home to textile warehouses, the area now boasts spacious lofts, luxury condos and historic townhouses. Its central location, just north of the Financial District, has long attracted the wealthy and famous, including Robert De Niro, Taylor Swift, Meryl Streep and Justin Timberlake.
SoHo has the largest collection of cast-iron buildings of any neighbourhood in the world
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Following close behind is SoHo, with a median rent of $6,100. Known for designer boutiques, art galleries and cobblestone streets, SoHo has the largest collection of cast-iron buildings in the world and retains its artistic cachet as the former home of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat. David Bowie and his wife Iman bought a 5,000-square-foot apartment in SoHo in 1999 and lived there until his death in 2016. Travis Kalanick, the billionaire co-founder of Uber, purchased a $36.5 million penthouse in the area in 2019 which he put up for rent at a cool $150,000 per month last year.
The Flatiron District ranks third at $5,900, prized for its iconic architecture, luxury high-rises and historic pre-war co-ops. The steel-framed Flatiron Building itself is being converted into 38 condominiums expected on the market in late 2025.
Outside Manhattan, Dumbo in Brooklyn makes the top five with a median rent of $5,750. Nestled between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, Dumbo features loft conversions with large windows, high ceilings and exposed brick. Past residents include Anne Hathaway, Zendaya and Joe Jonas.
An infamous street view in Dumbo, Brooklyn
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Battery Park City comes next at $5,400, attracting finance and tech professionals as well as families, thanks to its modern layout, waterfront views, parks and highly rated schools.
Rounding out the top ten are Chelsea ($5,240), the West Village ($5,000), Midtown South ($4,900), Midtown ($4,825) and Greenwich Village ($4,800) — each offering its own combination of convenience, culture and architectural charm while commanding some of the highest rents in the city.
Why is New York so expensive?
Economists say the city offers a textbook case study in robust demand colliding with limited supply to force housing prices ever higher.
There’s very little vacant land to build on, and much of the city — especially in Brooklyn and Queens — is zoned for relatively low densities, said Krimmel.
The process for approving new housing is also extremely slow and convoluted, which limits the number of units that come on to the market.
“Every square foot of land or floor space in New York City is in high demand and space comes at a huge premium,” Krimmel said. “As a result, unlike many US cities, renters actually dominate the market in New York, with two-thirds of all housing units in the city being renter-occupied.”
“High demand is far outstripping supply artificially limited by restrictive zoning and slow permitting processes,” Krimmel added.
Morton Street in the West Village
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Compounding the rent crisis is the fact that the vacancy rate for NYC apartments was just 1.4 per cent in October, the lowest level since 1968.
However the detractors are unlikely to sway Mamdani. He has remained committed to his democratic socialist principles even as he has attempted to court the NYC real-estate community.
His evangelism for rent controls comes from firsthand experience: he and his wife, Rama Duwaji, live in a rent-stabilised one-bedroom apartment in Queens, paying $2,300 a month.