The rent is too damn high isn’t just a meme or a catchy slogan but a damn reality in New York City.
RentHop, a popular online rental listing website published a study today using its data coupled with local census income data to determine which neighborhoods were affordable when looking for a 2 bedroom apartment.
Only 9 neighborhoods out of 139 where data was available were found to be affordable, meaning that rents, “…can be afforded with 35% of the neighborhood’s median income…” representing just 6.5% of neighborhoods in NYC.
Of the top 10 neighborhoods, 4 of them were in The Bronx starting with Mott Haven/Port Morris at the 5th least affordable in NYC followed by Highbridge, Hunts Point, and Melrose.
Clearly the data doesn’t take into account the existing housing stock of public housing in NYCHA but these are the same neighborhoods constantly listed in larger affordability and rent burden studies which sadly doesn’t make the results of this study all too surprising.
It should also be noted that these are listings and are not actual rents but the very fact that landlords are emboldened to even ask such rents when a few years ago people would laugh, should be an indicator of where the market is heading in our area.
Take a look at the map and the list of neighborhoods:
Due to limited availability of data in some neighborhoods, large chunks of The Bronx (particularly, North, Central, and East Bronx) aren’t included in this search as you can see from the map and table above but the reality is still the same: We’re heading towards a dismal future where even The Bronx won’t be affordable any longer.
Head on over to RentHop and check out the full picture.
