Paying Unaffordable Rent in Brooklyn

The Comptroller’s Office’s released a new report titled “New York Rents Through The Roof!” It’s hard to get much more to the point than that. The report tells the story of increasingly unaffordable rents throughout the city.

In Brooklyn, 36% of middle-income residents (earning between $35,000 and $74,999 per year) are paying unaffordable rents (more than 30% of income) while only 5% of high-income residents pay unaffordable rents.

Brownstoner breaks it down:

Somewhat counterintuitively, for middle-income renters, Brooklyn is the second most affordable borough, after the Bronx. Manhattan is third, and Queens and Staten Island are the least affordable, in that order. The lowest-income households, making less than $35,000 per year, have it pretty bad everywhere, with 83 to 91 percent of them paying “unaffordable” rents throughout New York City. In case you’re wondering, over the years, rents have increased relative to income. In 1980, 39 percent of New Yorkers paid “unaffordable” rents. In 2010, it was 49 percent.

So maybe moving to Manhattan from Brooklyn isn’t the best option after all?

Neighborhood renters, it’s time to talk. How many of you are paying an unaffordable rent?

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