New York

How New York ranks among the states

New York is the 21st most distressed of the 50 states and D.C., and owing money isn’t what puts it there. It’s a high-income state with a lot of poverty: income per person was $85,552 in 2024, the 6th highest, while its poverty rate was the 10th highest. It’s also a state of renters. Only 54.3% of its occupied homes were lived in by their owners from 2020 to 2024, the smallest share of any state; only D.C., at 41.5%, is lower. Renters’ housing costs weigh most: on that part of the score New York is 4th highest among the states, and jobs come next. Late payments sit near the middle of the states, and collections and bankruptcy rank tied for 10th lowest.

Most distressed in the pandemic jobs slump, easing to early 2025, rising again since

What does it cost to live in New York?

Renting here costs more than in most states, and New York is a state of renters. The median rent was $1,621 a month from 2020 to 2024, the 10th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against $1,413 nationwide (U.S. Census Bureau). What weighs most is rent against income: in 2024, 28.6% of New York renter households paid half or more of their income for rent and utilities, the 4th highest share. And a bigger share of its occupied homes are rented than in any state; only D.C. is higher. We don’t measure food, energy or insurance prices, so we can’t rank New York’s whole cost of living, and our figures cover the state, not New York City alone.

Rent and housing costs in every state →

How is New York’s economy doing?

Unemployment is a little above the national rate and has started to ease. New York’s unemployment rate was 4.3% in August 2026, tied for 16th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 4.1% for the U.S. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). A year earlier it was 4.5%; the bureau counts that drop as statistically significant, but not the gap with the national rate. The rate was 4.6% in every month published from September 2025 through June 2026 (the shutdown left no October figure), then eased to 4.4% in July.

Unemployment rates in every state →

Which New York counties are the poorest and most distressed?

Bronx County, the borough of the Bronx, is both New York’s poorest county and its most distressed. In 2024, 28.7% of its residents lived in poverty, the highest rate of the state’s 62 counties (Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). It scores 98 on our County Distress Index, which measures household financial strain in every U.S. county. The Bronx is the 56th most distressed of the 3,144 counties we score. It is New York’s only county among the 100 most distressed. Saratoga County, north of Albany, is the least distressed in the state. New York City’s five boroughs are counties of their own: Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), New York (Manhattan), Queens and Richmond (Staten Island).

Every county, by score

Bronx County is the only one of New York’s 62 counties to score 80 or more. Montgomery and Kings counties follow at 75 and 69. At the other end, 10 counties score under 30, among them Nassau, on Long Island, and Westchester, just north of the city.

All 62 New York counties, ranked →

Are people leaving New York?

Yes, for other states, though arrivals from abroad have offset most of the loss. From July 2020 to July 2025, 1,045,769 more people moved from New York to other states than moved the other way, by the Census Bureau’s estimates. In the year to July 2025 the net loss was 137,586, or 6.9 for every 1,000 residents (2025 population), the largest for its size of the 50 states and D.C. overall. Over the same five years, 747,996 more people arrived from abroad than left, and births outnumbered deaths by 187,259. New York had 20,002,427 residents in 2025, down 0.6% since 2020, tied for 4th lowest among the 50 states and D.C. overall. The moves, arrivals and births above don’t add up to that change because the Census Bureau’s estimates also include a further adjustment.

The population fell in the years to July 2021 and July 2022. It rose in each of the next three years, but by only 1,008 in the latest. Arrivals from abroad outnumbered people leaving for other states in 2023 and 2024, though not in 2025.

Next: is New York a poor state? →

Is New York a poor state?

Not on average, but more of its people are poor than in most states. Income per person was $85,552 in 2024, the 6th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against $73,204 nationwide (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis), and the typical household earned $85,768, the 16th highest. Yet 14.0% of New Yorkers lived below the poverty line, the 10th highest rate, against 12.1% for the U.S., and so did 17.9% of its children (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Because income per person divides all income, investments included, by every resident, a few very high incomes can raise it a lot. We don’t hold a measure of how unevenly income is spread.

What changed in New York in the past year

1. July 1, 2026

   The Essential Plan’s income limit comes down

   New York’s Essential Plan, the state’s low-cost health plan for people with low incomes, now covers people with incomes up to twice the federal poverty level: $31,920 a year for one person in 2026, according to NY State of Health. In March the state health department estimated that about 450,000 New Yorkers would no longer qualify from July 1 and could buy a marketplace plan instead; the department attributes the change to the federal budget law of 2025 (Public Law 119-21). That figure is the state’s estimate of people affected, not a count of people who lost coverage.

   NY State of Health, Essential Plan, read Oct. 16, 2026; New York State health department, March 23, 2026

2. June 25, 2026

   A rent freeze for New York City’s rent-stabilized apartments

   New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board set no increase for one- or two-year leases on rent-stabilized apartments that begin from Oct. 1, 2026 through Sept. 30, 2027. For leases that began in the year before, it had allowed 3% for one year and 4.5% for two. The freeze doesn’t reach market-rate apartments or homes outside the city.

   New York City Rent Guidelines Board, Order #58; Order #57

3. March 1, 2026

   SNAP work rules return across the state

   Adults without dependents who get SNAP food benefits must again meet federal work rules to keep getting them beyond a time limit. USDA ended New York’s waiver of the rules as of Nov. 2, 2025. A federal court case in Rhode Island kept the waiver in place in every county but Saratoga through Feb. 28, 2026, the New York City Department of Social Services told its partner groups. The state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance says people who lost SNAP from June 1, 2026 for not meeting the rules can reapply from Oct. 1, 2026, when the time limit resets. New York’s SNAP count was already falling before the rules returned (see SNAP).

   New York City Department of Social Services, Nov. 25, 2025; New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, SNAP work requirements, read Oct. 16, 2026

4. Jan. 22, 2026

   Con Edison gets a smaller rate increase than it asked for

   New York’s Public Service Commission approved a three-year electric and gas rate plan for Con Edison, which serves New York City and Westchester County. For a home using 280 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, the commission’s summary puts the first year’s increase at $4.00 a month, or 3.9% of the total bill; the company had asked for $14.13 a month.

   New York State Public Service Commission, Jan. 22, 2026; electric rate case summary

5. Jan. 1, 2026

   A higher minimum wage and a bigger child credit

   The minimum wage rose to $17.00 an hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and to $16.00 in the rest of the state, from $16.50 and $15.50 in 2025 (New York Labor Law § 652). For 2026, the Empire State child credit is $1,000 for each child under 4, as in 2025, and $500 for each child aged 4 to 16, up from $330 (New York State Department of Taxation and Finance).

   New York Labor Law § 652; New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Empire State child credit, read Oct. 16, 2026

6. Oct. 30, 2025

   A state emergency over food help during the shutdown

   With November’s federal SNAP benefits about to lapse during the federal government shutdown, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state emergency and announced state money for emergency food help.

   Office of Governor Kathy Hochul, Oct. 30, 2025

How many New Yorkers are behind on bills?

A bit fewer than nationwide, except on mortgages. In early 2025, 15.5% of New Yorkers with a credit record were 90 or more days late on at least one debt, against 17.2% for the U.S. (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). We calculate the national share as a population-weighted average of the states.

Mortgages are the one debt New Yorkers fall seriously behind on more often than Americans overall

Share of borrowers 90 or more days late on each kind of loan, and of people with a debt in collections, New York against the U.S., first quarter of 2025

Mortgage borrowers 90+ days late

N.Y. 1.5% U.S. 1.2%

Card borrowers 90+ days late

N.Y. 12.6% U.S. 13.5%

Auto borrowers 90+ days late

N.Y. 6.3% U.S. 8.5%

People with a debt in collections

N.Y. 8.1% U.S. 13.2%

New York’s place among the 50 states and D.C., 1 = the highest share: mortgages tied for 6th, cards 25th, car loans 31st, collections 48th. We make each U.S. bar by weighting the states by population.

At the end of 2019, 10.9% of New Yorkers with a credit record had a debt in collections, meaning an unpaid debt passed to a collector. By early 2025 the share was 8.1%. The fall doesn’t by itself mean fewer New Yorkers are struggling: the share had already dropped to 9.3% by early 2022, before the credit report change described next. It has climbed back from its low of 7.3% at the end of 2023.

Credit reports changed too; that does not mean household finances changed. In 2022, the three big credit bureaus said they would stop reporting certain medical debts. Nationwide, the share of people with a medical collection on their record went from about 14% in March 2022 to about 5% in June 2023 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). We don’t hold New York’s own medical figure, so we can’t say how much of its drop that accounts for.

Bankruptcy filings in New York rose for a fourth straight year

New Yorkers filed 23,186 bankruptcy cases in 2025, up 8.7% from 2024 and the most since 2019, when they filed 35,171 (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts). Filings have risen every year since the low of 14,734 in 2021. For the state’s size, the rate is still below the nation’s: 116.7 filings for every 100,000 residents (2024 population), the 20th lowest among the 50 states and D.C., against 167.1 nationwide.

Most filers use Chapter 7, which can wipe out many debts without a repayment plan: 65.2% of New York’s 2025 filings. Another 30.0% were under Chapter 13, in which a filer repays part of the debts through a court-approved plan, and 4.5% were under Chapter 11, which lets a business or a person keep going while reorganizing debts. That Chapter 11 share is the 4th highest among the 50 states and D.C. overall. The few left were filed under other chapters. The totals on this page count every chapter, business cases included. How bankruptcy works →

How foreclosure works in New York

Every home foreclosure in New York goes through a court. The lender sues in the state Supreme Court, New York’s main trial court, and the home can be sold only under a court judgment (RPAPL Article 13). At least 90 days before suing, the lender must mail the borrower a notice that lists at least five housing counseling agencies, and report it to the state’s Department of Financial Services (RPAPL §§ 1304 and 1306). Owners who live in a one- to four-family home get a settlement conference, which the court must hold within 60 days after the lender files proof that the papers were served; both sides must negotiate in good faith (CPLR 3408). Once the home is sold, there’s no right to buy it back. Federal rules generally keep a mortgage company from filing the first foreclosure papers until a loan is more than 120 days behind.

New York received $539.5 million from the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund and had helped 19,072 homeowners through early 2026 (U.S. Treasury). The state’s program is closed and no longer serving people on its waitlist (New York State Homes and Community Renewal).

Loan changes and foreclosure top New Yorkers’ mortgage complaints

New Yorkers have filed 27,287 mortgage complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since 2012. Loan modification, collection and foreclosure came up most often (7,104), then trouble during the payment process (5,451), then loan servicing, payments or escrow (4,494).

What to watch before the next edition

Four dates before the next edition, nearest first: a jobs report, a pause in unemployment services, and two New Year’s Day items, the minimum wage holding still and Con Edison’s next rate step.

1. Oct. 20, 2026

   Every state’s September unemployment rate

   The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to publish September’s state unemployment rates, the first update since New York’s August rate of 4.3%.

   U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State Employment and Unemployment, Sept. 18, 2026

2. Nov. 2, 2026

   Unemployment services go offline for an upgrade

   The New York labor department starts moving unemployment insurance to a new system at 5 p.m. It expects the work to take 9 to 12 days, during which online and phone unemployment services will be unavailable and payments will be delayed.

   New York labor department, unemployment insurance, read Oct. 16, 2026

3. Jan. 1, 2027

   No inflation raise for the minimum wage

   The New York labor department says the minimum wage will stay at $17.00 an hour in New York City, Long Island and Westchester and $16.00 elsewhere, because one of the conditions in state law that can stop the yearly inflation increase has been met. Home care aides’ minimum wage is the exception.

   New York labor department, minimum wage, read Oct. 16, 2026

4. Jan. 1, 2027

   Con Edison’s second rate step is set to begin

   In the second year of the plan approved in January 2026, Con Edison electric bills are set to rise another $3.55 a month for a home using 280 kilowatt-hours.

   New York State Public Service Commission, electric rate case summary, January 2026

Where New York ranks highest and lowest