Justice
New York Is a City of Renters at Every Stage of Life
The American Dream trajectory of renting while young and owning a home later doesn’t quite apply in NYC.
Renters run New York City. Renting is fate for the young and trending in Brooklyn and Queens and the Bronx. It’s also just a cold, hard fact of life for most everyone else in NYC.
It’s no surprise that renters outnumber owners in New York altogether. About 51 percent of the city’s housing units are renter-occupied, versus 41 percent that are owner-occupied, according to Census data. (The rest are vacant or seasonal.) What’s surprising about New York City is the spread. In nearly every age category, from 25 to 75, renters outnumber homeowners in New York. And in most age groups, renters win by a wide margin.