Rent payments in northwestern Queens have become more expensive this year, according to a recent report from New York City-based listing platform RentHop.
Based on data from RentHop listings between January and June 2023, the report examined 170 total neighborhoods throughout Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx to determine the required amount of income for tenants to qualify for apartments in these neighborhoods. Of the 170 neighborhoods examined in the report, 22 of them are in Queens.
“Every NYC renter has the ideal neighborhood they’d like to live in, but with the common requirement from many landlords for tenants to have an income 40-times greater than their monthly rent payment, choices start to get more limited,” a RentHop release said about the report.
According to the report, the most expensive neighborhoods in Queens are Long Island City and Hunters Point, with “income required for a studio” rates of $132,000 and $129,800, respectively. With the “40x rent rule” in mind, the report estimates the median studio rent to be $3,300 in Long Island City and $3,245 in Hunters Point.
As expected, these neighborhood trends remain true for larger apartment units. In order to afford a one-bedroom apartment, the report estimates a required income of $166,800 in Long Island City and $162,400 for Hunters Point with median rents of $4,170 and $4,060, respectively.
For two bedroom apartments, the median rents climb to almost $6,000 for both Long Island City and Hunters Point, making them the most expensive neighborhoods in Queens, according to the report.
Some other notable neighborhoods include Ridgewood, Pomonok and Jamaica, which each require incomes over $90,000 to qualify for a studio apartment. Sunnyside and Elmhurst offer slightly cheaper requirements, with required incomes over $84,000.
The lowest rates, however, come from Downtown Flushing, Flushing, Murray Hill and Jamaica Estates, with required incomes between $66,000 and $68,000 for a studio apartment.
According to the report, Downtown Flushing requires $66,000 for a studio, $77,500 for a one-bedroom unit, and $100,000 for a two-bedroom apartment, putting the median rent rates at $1,650, $1,938, and $2,500, respectively. These findings, according to RentHop, are among the key findings listed alongside the report’s entire data set.
“As northwestern Queens and Brooklyn have become more expensive this year, Flatlands, Concourse, Sunset Park, Downtown Flushing, and Port Morris are other options for renters who make less than $80,000 a year,” according to the report’s findings.
The main takeaway from the report, however, is that New York is “one of the least affordable cities for singles” due to a higher income being necessary to qualify for studio apartments alone. Out of the 170 neighborhoods examined, the report found Manhattan’s neighborhoods to be the most expensive from renters in Tribeca needing to make $182,000 a year to qualify for a studio to Turtle Bay having the highest income requirement for a one-bedroom apartment with a salary of $278,680.
Despite these high numbers citywide, the report shows that Queens remains one of the more affordable boroughs. Based on the neighborhoods examined, Queens shows the second lowest average income required for a two-bedroom apartment ($121,598), compared to the Bronx ($100,850), Brooklyn ($154,560) and Manhattan ($222,140).
