Rising Costs Hitting Homeowners & Renters Across New York State

Housing costs in New York rose sharply relative to income from 2000 to 2012, with more than half of renters and more than a third of homeowners paying at least 30 percent of their 2012 income for a place to live, according to a report released by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.


“Regardless of where they live, more New Yorkers are feeling pinched by rising housing costs,”DiNapoli said. “When half your income goes to pay for a place to live, you are going to be stretched thin on other every day purchases. This unfortunate trend has troubling implications for our economic growth and for New Yorkers’ quality of life.”



2012 Affordability Rank/County/2012 Percentage Above Affordability Threshold/Percentage Change 2000-2012
1 Hamilton 20.9% -12.2%
2 Schuyler 30.9% -4.3%
3 Steuben 36.8% -0.8%
4 Madison 39.0% 6.3%
5 Tioga 39.5% 5.2%
6 Columbia 39.6% 5.2%
7 Cayuga 39.7% 1.6%
8 Delaware 40.4% 1.7%
9 Cattaraugus 40.6% 6.2%
10 Seneca 40.8% 1.2%
11 Cortland 41.7% 1.4%
12 Saratoga 42.0% 10.1%
13 Wayne 42.8% 4.8%
14 Genesee 43.4% 6.3%
15 Jefferson 43.4% 13.9%
16 Yates 43.5% 3.5%
17 Herkimer 44.2% 7.7%
18 Franklin 44.4% 7.8%
19 New York 44.4% 7.0%
20 Wyoming 45.0% 9.8%
21 Fulton 45.3% 8.7%
22 Livingston 45.4% 3.3%
23 Chenango 45.4% 9.4%
24 Rensselaer 45.6% 10.6%
25 Chautauqua 45.6% 6.2%
26 Chemung 45.6% 6.2%
27 Albany 45.7% 6.2%
28 Montgomery 46.1% 9.4%
29 Oneida 46.1% 6.8%
30 Niagara 46.2% 7.0%
31 Allegany 46.90% 5.7%
32 Schoharie 47.0% 7.2%
33 Clinton 47.0% 8.1%
34 Washington 47.3% 12.3%
35 Erie 47.5% 4.3%
36 Onondaga 47.5% 6.0%
37 St. Lawrence 47.6% 8.0%
38 Ontario 47.7% 9.4%
39 Tompkins 47.8% -2.0%
40 Orleans 48.1% 5.6%
41 Lewis 48.2% 10.9%
42 Broome 48.7% 7.6%
43 Richmond 48.8% 11.7%
44 Schenectady 49.1% 8.9%
45 Oswego 49.2% 8.3%
46 Essex 49.7% 15.8%
47 Dutchess 49.9% 11.5%
48 Sullivan 51.0% 9.1%
49 Warren 51.1% 11.3%
50 Otsego 51.4% 8.6%
51 Kings 52.5% 9.4%
52 Nassau 53.2% 14.0%
53 Westchester 53.3% 13.7%
54 Queens 53.7% 13.9%
55 Monroe 53.7% 9.3%
56 Putnam 53.8% 14.4%
57 Suffolk 54.0% 10.9%
58 Orange 54.7% 14.9%
59 Rockland 55.0% 12.1%
60 Ulster 55.1% 13.3%
61 Greene 57.5% 17.2%
62 Bronx 57.6% 14.3%