Albany, NY (WRGB) — Congresswoman Elise Stefanik has made New York’s cost of living a key part of her recently-launched campaign for governor. The North Country Republican announced her bid earlier this month with a promise to make New York more affordable. Her specific claim—the state is already the most unaffordable in the nation, “with the highest taxes, highest energy, utilities, rent, and grocery prices crushing hardworking families.”
New Yorkers are paying more for everything these days, along with the rest of the country. Americans say it’s harder to afford groceries than it was a year ago. Housing prices are outpacing income. Child care costs are also up. CBS News recently broke down some of these statistics and how Americans are feeling about costs across the board.
But as Capital Region GOP legislators and Rep. Stefanik push the issue of affordability, CBS6 is taking a look at the numbers. We reached out to Stefanik’s campaign to get a sense of what data set they were using to back up the claim that New York is the most unaffordable state. The campaign sent along an October 30 report from the Tax Foundation.
READ MORE: Stefanik announcement sparks political reaction
The 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index puts New York at the lowest overall rank, and lowest rank for individual income taxes. The index also ranks corporate tax rates, sales tax rates, property rax rates, and unemployment insurance tax rates.
In a statement in response to the Tax Foundation’s Index and shared in response to CBS6’s request, Stefanik blamed Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration for an affordability crisis:
“In another devastating blow to New Yorkers and their pocketbooks, Kathy Hochul’s single-party Democrat rule has landed New York as the number one most taxed and regulated state in the nation. Kathy Hochul has caused an affordability crisis that has families buckling under the weight of skyrocketing taxes, rent, and utility prices. She’s created such a toxic regulatory environment that businesses are leaving New York in droves. Hochul the Hypocrite’s endorsement of antisemite jihadist Zohran Mamdani means that this vicious cycle of New Yorkers fleeing to other states will only continue so long as she’s at the helm. Next Year, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to SAVE our state and FIRE the Worst Governor in America.”
With New York falling short on its tax policies, CBS6 looked into other reports, still asking the question: is New York the most unaffordable state?
According to U.S. News & World Report, New York ranks 45 in overall affordability, trailing behind Washington, Massachusetts, Hawaii, New Jersey, and California; New York is 45 in cost of living and 43 in housing affordability.
In another ranking, New York breaks the top 10 for most expensive states—but ties for ninth place with Florida. That CNBC report, from July 2024 cites high housing and dining costs in New York City.
A January report from Zoocasa leaves New York off the list of top five least affordable states for home buyers. That ranking put New York at 32 for both home price-to-income ratios and average monthly mortgage.
Here’s another look at tax burdens. Just like the Tax Foundation, WalletHub found New York leads the pack with the highest individual income tax burden. But when including property tax and sales & excise tax burdens, Hawaii (13.92 percent total tax burden) beats out New York (13.56 percent total tax burden) in WalletHub’s rankings.
New Yorkers pay less on average for energy than states like Hawaii and California, according to data from PowerOutage.us, which collects and records power grid data globally. The state’s average electricity cost is 23.30 cents/kWh, for an average monthly bill of $149. Overall energy and utilities costs include things like natural gas, water, internet, and cable. Angie’s List found New York was 29th for these overall costs, according to 2022 U.S. Census data.
Grocery prices are rising nationwide. ConsumerAffairs analyzed price data earlier this year and found grocery prices were up 5.3 percent on average year over year. New York’s prices were up 6.3 percent in this ranking, behind a dozen other states. Hawaii generally ranks number one for most expensive grocery costs in the nation, but recent data from GoBankingRates put Mississippi at number one; New York was 36 in that ranking.
New York State’s prices are skewed by New York City, which consistently ranks as the most expensive in the country and in the top most expensive in the world. This is most apparent when ranking the cost of rent. Apartments.com has the state average at a whopping $2,989/month for an average square footage of 601. New York City alone has an average monthly rental cost of nearly double that at $4,020. Cities like Albany ($1,527/month), Syracuse ($1,225/month), and Buffalo ($1,223/month) are much closer to the average rent in most other states.
READ MORE: Hochul leads Stefanik by 20 points in new Siena poll
When it comes to taxes, Governor Hochul’s office says relief is on the way for New Yorkers. Responding to Stefanik’s initial November 7 campaign announcement, the Hochul campaign cited the 2026 State Budget, which is projected to lower middle-class taxes and deliver nearly $1 billion in relief.