New York's statewide two-bedroom fair market rent is $1,185 a month.
Kings County's — Brooklyn's — is $2,910.
That is a 2.5x gap inside one state, and it is why the statewide figure for New York is among the least useful numbers in American housing data. New York contains rent areas at $973 — the administered minimum that is the cheapest area in sixteen other states — and rent areas at $2,910, and it averages them without weighting for the fact that a very large share of New York's renters live at the top end.
A note before you start. This is general education, not housing, legal or financial advice. Rent figures come from HUD's Fair Market Rents for FY2026, published under 24 CFR 888.113 and used to set Housing Choice Voucher payment standards. An FMR is the 40th percentile of GROSS rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — for standard-quality units in a defined rent area, so roughly 60% of units cost more and it is not comparable to an advertised rent excluding utilities. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer taking the standard deduction — and they do not include New York City's own income tax, which is discussed in section 6. New York's rent stabilisation and landlord-tenant law are outside this dataset and are not covered here.
1. What HUD says renting costs in New York
| Unit size | Statewide fair market rent |
|---|---|
| Studio | $892 |
| 1 bedroom | $953 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,185 |
| 3 bedroom | $1,494 |
| 4 bedroom | $1,713 |
Those numbers will look wrong to anyone who lives in New York City, and they are not wrong — they are a median across 39 rent areas, most of which are upstate.
The statewide figure is the median across New York's 39 distinct rent areas, unweighted by population. A rent area covering a rural county in the Southern Tier counts exactly as much as the New York HUD Metro FMR Area covering the five boroughs.
Which means the statewide figure is closer to what upstate New York costs than to what most New Yorkers pay.
Work out what rent your own income actually supports in New York2. The 199% spread
| Measure | New York |
|---|---|
| Distinct rent areas | 39 |
| Cheapest 2-bedroom area | $973 — the administered minimum |
| Dearest 2-bedroom area | $2,910 |
| Internal spread | 199% |
| Statewide median | $1,185 |
New York has rent areas at $973 and rent areas near the top of the national range. That $973 is the cheapest rent area in seventeen states including New York — an administered minimum rather than a distinct measurement of each of those markets.
The $1,937 monthly gap between the state's cheapest and dearest rent areas is $23,244 a year. That is more than the entire annual rent of a two-bedroom in the cheapest area.
What that means for any comparison you read. An article that ranks New York against Texas or Florida on statewide rent is comparing two medians that neither state's urban renters experience. New York's statewide $1,185 sits below Florida's $1,337 and above Texas's $1,015 — which tells you almost nothing, because the comparison that matters is Brooklyn against Miami or Austin.
3. Three things a fair market rent is not
It is the 40th percentile, not the median. Roughly 60% of standard-quality units rent for more than the FMR. Kings County's $2,910 means a clear majority of Brooklyn two-bedrooms cost more than that.
It is GROSS rent, including tenant-paid utilities. HUD builds the figure to cover rent plus the utilities a tenant pays. In New York's older housing stock, heat is frequently included in the rent — which means an advertised heat-included rent is closer to the FMR concept than one where the tenant pays it separately.
It is per rent area, not per county. The New York HUD Metro FMR Area covers all five boroughs, so Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island all carry the same published figure — $2,910 for a two-bedroom. Anyone who has priced apartments in Manhattan and in the Bronx knows those are not the same market, and the FMR does not claim they are: it is an area-wide 40th percentile.
4. What the two-bedroom actually requires
Most US landlords screen on gross income being at least three times the annual rent. In New York City the common standard is stricter still — many landlords use 40x the monthly rent in annual income, which is 40x rather than 36x, and some require 45x or 50x.
| Statewide | Kings County | Suffolk County | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-bedroom FMR | $1,185 | $2,910 | $2,747 |
| 3x gross screen demands | $42,660 | $104,760 | $98,892 |
| 40x monthly screen demands | $47,400 | $116,400 | $109,880 |
$116,400 to pass a 40x screen on Brooklyn's median two-bedroom. That is HUD's 40th percentile — about 60% of Brooklyn two-bedrooms cost more.
What passing the 3x screen leaves
| Statewide 2-bed | Kings County 2-bed | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross income required | $42,660 | $104,760 |
| Take-home per month | $2,896 | $6,450 |
| Rent | $1,185 | $2,910 |
| Rent as a share of take-home | 40.9% | 45.1% |
Someone who exactly passes a Brooklyn landlord's 3x screen is spending 45.1% of what reaches their account on rent — and that is before New York City's own income tax, which the figures above do not include.
The 3x rule never lands on 30% in any state:
| State | Rent as % of take-home at exactly 3x gross |
|---|---|
| Hawaii | 44.7% |
| Oregon | 43.1% |
| New York | 40.9% |
| Texas | 38.6% |
| North Dakota | 38.2% |
It is an underwriting test, not an affordability test.
5. 30% of gross, and 30% of what you actually get
The 30% rule is HUD's cost-burden threshold under 24 CFR 5.603, and HUD applies it to gross income because that is what a housing programme can verify.
| Annual salary | 30% of gross | 30% of New York take-home | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $1,125 | $913 | $212 |
| $60,000 | $1,500 | $1,194 | $306 |
| $85,000 | $2,125 | $1,616 | $509 |
At $85,000 the conventional rule allows $2,125 and the honest budget figure is $1,616. New York State's income tax alone takes $3,993 of that salary — $333 a month.
What the two-bedroom costs at real salaries
| Annual salary | Statewide | Kings County | Suffolk County |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | 39.0% | 95.7% | 90.3% |
| $60,000 | 29.8% | 73.1% | 69.0% |
| $85,000 | 22.0% | 54.0% | 51.0% |
Rent as a share of take-home pay.
At $85,000 — a salary well above the national median — Brooklyn's median two-bedroom is 54.0% of take-home. HUD calls above 50% severely cost-burdened.
Suffolk County is 51.0% at the same salary, which surprises people who assume Long Island is the affordable alternative to the city. It is $163 a month cheaper on a two-bedroom. That is 5.9%.
6. New York City's income tax is not in these figures
This is the most important caveat on this page for anyone renting in the five boroughs.
New York City levies its own income tax on residents, on top of New York State's. The take-home figures in this article are state-and-federal only, because the city rate depends on residency and this site's dataset records the fact of local income taxes rather than picking one rate to represent everybody.
The direction of the error is clear: a New York City resident's take-home is lower than shown, so their rent burden is higher.
Three practical consequences:
The 54.0% Kings County figure at $85,000 is an understatement. Add city tax and the real share of take-home is higher.
The gap between 30%-of-gross and 30%-of-take-home is larger in the city than the $509 shown. New York City residents face the largest such gap of anyone in the country.
And it is a residency test, not a workplace test. Someone living in Westchester or New Jersey and working in Manhattan does not pay New York City resident income tax — though New York State will tax the income as nonresident source income. That is a genuine and substantial reason people commute in.
7. Two counties, and what they show
| County | Studio | 2 bedroom | 3 bedroom | Rent area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County | $2,529 | $2,910 | $3,644 | New York, NY HUD Metro FMR Area |
| Suffolk County | $1,992 | $2,747 | $3,563 | Nassau-Suffolk, NY HUD Metro FMR Area |
Kings County's studio is $2,529 — more than the two-bedroom FMR in 46 states.
The studio gap between the two counties is $537 and the two-bedroom gap is $163. That is the pattern: the city premium is largest on small units. A studio in Brooklyn costs 27% more than one in Suffolk; a two-bedroom costs 6% more.
Which is worth knowing if you are choosing between them. For a single person, the city premium is steep. For a family needing three bedrooms, Brooklyn is $81 a month above Suffolk — 2.3% — and the calculation turns almost entirely on commuting and schools rather than on rent.
8. Rent versus buy in New York
Three things decide it, and the rent is not one of them:
Appreciation. Buying overtakes renting mainly through appreciation, which varies by county and is backward-looking. This site's calculator uses FHFA House Price Index measurements rather than forecasts, and in some US counties buying never overtakes renting within thirty years.
Selling costs. Around 7% of the sale price in agent commission and transfer tax, and it never comes back. New York adds its own transfer taxes on top, and New York City adds a further one — so the "around 7%" figure is at the low end here.
How long you stay. The break-even is measured in years.
New York has two features that push the break-even out further than most states:
Co-op and condo carrying costs. Much of New York City's housing stock is co-operative or condominium, where monthly maintenance or common charges are a large recurring cost that continues after any mortgage is repaid. That is a cost a renter does not pay and an owner does, and it is frequently larger than property tax.
Very high transaction costs. Between transfer taxes, mansion tax at higher price points, attorney fees and co-op board requirements, buying and selling in New York City is expensive relative to most US markets.
Run the New York rent-versus-buy calculator with your own numbers.
9. What you can actually control
Know which rent area you are in, and know that the five boroughs share one. The published FMR for Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island is identical at $2,910. The actual markets are not, and the FMR is an area-wide 40th percentile rather than a borough figure.
Get the landlord test and the budget test straight. In New York City it is often 40x monthly income rather than 3x annual — a stricter test — and the budget answer is different again. On Brooklyn's $2,910 those are $116,400 of income to pass a 40x screen and, at the 3x level of $104,760, $1,935 of rent that 30%-of-take-home would support.
Ask about guarantors early. Where an applicant fails the income screen, New York landlords commonly accept a guarantor at a much higher multiple — often 80x monthly rent in annual income. That is $232,800 on Brooklyn's median two-bedroom, which is why third-party guarantor services exist as a market.
Ask what heat and hot water arrangement applies. The FMR is a gross-rent figure. In New York's older stock heat is often included; where it is not, the winter cost is substantial and it does not appear in the advertised rent.
Count the city income tax if you will be a resident. It is not in any figure on this page, and it is the difference between the Brooklyn burden shown and the one you will feel.
And reduce the state tax side where you can. New York State takes $3,993 from an $85,000 salary. A pre-tax 401(k) deferral saves 5.4% at that income at state level, plus your federal rate — which is the one lever on this page entirely within your control.
10. How HUD's cost-burden thresholds actually work
The 30% and 50% figures quoted throughout this article are not rules of thumb. They are regulatory definitions, and knowing where they come from tells you what they are and are not good for.
HUD defines a household as "cost-burdened" when it spends more than 30% of gross income on housing, and "severely cost-burdened" above 50%. The threshold traces back to the National Housing Act, and HUD uses it to measure housing need and to set programme eligibility.
Three things follow from that origin, and all three matter to a renter:
It is measured against gross income because a housing programme can verify gross income. A caseworker can read a W-2. They cannot easily verify what your actual tax withholding, retirement deferrals and health premiums leave you. Gross is administratively tractable, not economically correct.
It counts housing costs, not just rent. HUD's measure includes utilities, which is precisely why the fair market rent is defined as gross rent. If you are comparing your own situation against the 30% threshold, include your utility bills — otherwise you are measuring a smaller number against the same line.
It is a population statistic before it is personal advice. The threshold exists to answer "how many households in this county are struggling," and it does that job well. It was never designed to tell one household what it can afford, and it does not account for household size, debt, childcare, medical costs, or the tax rate where you live.
Which is why this article reports both figures. In New York a two-bedroom at $1,185 against a $42,660 income is exactly at HUD's 30% line by HUD's own measure. Against what actually reaches that household's account it is closer to 40%. Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions.
If you want one number to plan around, use 30% of take-home. It is the more conservative of the two, it is the one that reflects what you can actually spend, and it is what this site's calculator reports alongside the conventional figure.
11. What a landlord checks besides your income
The 3x income screen is the most visible test, and it is not the only one. None of the following is a legal requirement — they are common industry practice, and individual landlords differ.
Credit score. Most professionally managed buildings run a credit check, and many publish a minimum. A low score does not automatically disqualify you, but it commonly triggers a larger deposit or a guarantor requirement.
Rental history and references. Previous landlords, length of tenancy, and any eviction filings. An eviction filing can appear on a tenant screening report even where the case was dismissed, which is worth knowing if you have one.
The security deposit. How much a landlord may ask for, when it must be returned, and what may be deducted are all governed by state law, and those rules vary enormously. Check New York's own statute — this site's rent dataset covers HUD fair market rents and does not cover landlord-tenant law, so nothing on this page should be read as describing it.
Application fees. Charged per applicant in most markets, and often non-refundable. Applying to several places at once is a real cost.
Guarantors and co-signers. Where an applicant fails the income screen, many landlords will accept a guarantor — commonly at a higher multiple, such as 80x the monthly rent in annual income rather than 36x. That is a much larger number than the tenant's own test, and it is the usual route for students and recent graduates.
Proof of income. Pay stubs, an offer letter, or tax returns for the self-employed. Self-employed applicants are frequently asked for two years of returns, which is a materially higher bar than a salaried applicant faces on the same income.
The practical point: the 3x screen decides whether you clear the first filter. Everything above decides whether you get the apartment, and several of those items cost money to fail.
12. When these figures change
HUD publishes fair market rents annually, effective at the start of the federal fiscal year on 1 October. The figures in this article are FY2026.
Three ways your area's number can move:
Re-measurement. HUD builds FMRs from American Community Survey data with more recent trend adjustments. A rent area whose measured market has moved will see its figure move with it.
Redefinition. HUD occasionally redraws rent areas — splitting a metro, adding a county to one, or creating a small-area FMR where ZIP-level figures replace a single metro figure. When that happens, a county's published rent can change substantially without any change in its actual market. New York has 39 rent areas today; that count is not fixed.
The $973 cluster. Seventeen states have their cheapest rent area at exactly $973 for a two-bedroom — the same dollar figure in seventeen separate states, which is a minimum HUD applies to some class of areas rather than seventeen markets coincidentally agreeing. It is not a universal floor: twenty states have rent areas below it, running down to $776 in Alabama. This site has not confirmed the mechanism against HUD's methodology and does not guess at it. What matters practically is that an area sitting at $973 is carrying an administered figure rather than a measured one, and it moves when that administered figure moves.
What that means for planning. A fair market rent is a well-sourced annual snapshot, not a forecast. If you are signing a twelve-month lease, the figure that matters is the rent in the lease, and the FMR is context for judging whether that rent is reasonable for the area and the unit size.
Voucher holders should note one thing more. FMRs set the basis for Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, and a public housing agency may set its standard within a range around the FMR rather than exactly at it. Your agency's payment standard is the operative number, not the published FMR.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average rent in New York? HUD's statewide fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,185 a month for FY2026 — but that is an unweighted median across 39 rent areas, most of them upstate. Kings County's is $2,910 and Suffolk County's is $2,747.
Why is New York's statewide rent so much lower than New York City's? Because the statewide figure averages 39 rent areas without weighting for population, and most of them are upstate. New York has rent areas at $973 and areas at $2,910.
What income do I need to rent a two-bedroom in Brooklyn? A 3x screen on Kings County's $2,910 needs $104,760 a year. Many New York City landlords use 40x the monthly rent instead, which is $116,400.
Do all five boroughs have the same fair market rent? Yes — they are all inside the New York, NY HUD Metro FMR Area, so all carry $2,910 for a two-bedroom. The actual markets differ enormously; the FMR is an area-wide 40th percentile.
Is New York City's income tax included in these figures? No. The take-home figures here are federal and New York State only. A city resident's take-home is lower, so their real rent burden is higher than shown.
Is Long Island cheaper than Brooklyn? Barely, on a two-bedroom — $2,747 against $2,910, a 5.9% difference. The gap is much larger on studios, where Suffolk is 27% cheaper.
Is 30% of income a realistic rent budget in New York? 30% of gross on $85,000 is $2,125. 30% of New York State take-home is $1,616. Neither reaches Brooklyn's $2,910, which is why so many New York City renters are cost-burdened by HUD's own measure.
Should I buy in New York instead? That depends on appreciation, transaction costs and how long you stay. New York adds transfer taxes and, in the city, co-op or condo maintenance charges that continue after the mortgage is repaid. Run the rent-versus-buy calculator.
What to do next
New York's statewide rent figure describes upstate. If you are renting in the city or on Long Island, the county figure and the city income tax are the two numbers that decide your budget.
- New York rent affordability calculator — the landlord's test and the budget test, side by side.
- New York rent vs buy — the break-even year, computed rather than assumed.
- New York take-home pay — including what the city tax adds.
- The 30% rule is measured against the wrong number — the full argument.
- Renting in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states, county by county.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Rent figures are HUD Fair Market Rents for FY2026, from HUD User, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rent including tenant-paid utilities for standard-quality units in a defined rent area — not a market median, and not comparable to an advertised rent excluding utilities. Statewide figures are the median across New York's 39 distinct rent areas, unweighted by population. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals, using federal figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and New York State rates from this site's sourced 50-state dataset. New York City's resident income tax is not included in any take-home figure here, so a city resident's real rent burden is higher than shown. The 3x and 40x landlord screens are common industry practice, not legal standards. New York's rent stabilisation, rent control and landlord-tenant law are outside this dataset. This is general education and not housing, legal or financial advice.