What is the Minimum Salary to Live Comfortably in New York City?

The question of what is the minimum salary to live comfortable in New York city is subjective to the eye of the beholder. What really defines “comfortable”? Let’s take a look at a couple benchmarks: apartment rentals and costs associated with living in the Big Apple.

Manhattan Skyline

By Erin Stark

The average landlord in New York City will require the renter’s annual income to be 40 times the monthly rent for the apartment they are leasing.

On The Low End

Let’s start out at the low end and say a New York renter is looking to live in a $2,500 a month studio apartment in Manhattan, the renter would have to make at least $100,000 a year (40 times $2,500), according to the landlord’s qualifications. Let’s say 30% of their annual income goes to taxes, the monthly amount left over would be about $5,833. Once the $2500 rent is taken out, the renter about $3,300 to work with the rest of their lifestyle choices.

Let’s add a few more additional costs per month:

Food/Restaurants: $500-$1000

Transportation: $120 (monthly subway metrocard) – $500 (ubers and taxis)

Incidentals: $200-$400

Phone and Utilities: $150 – $300

Shopping and Entertainment: $200- $1000

Gym Membership: $50- $250 (Equinox)

Cable, Internet, and Netflix/Hulu/ Adobe Prime: $100- $200

Spotify/ Apple Music/ You Tube Red: $10-$50

WSJ Online/ NY Times/ Other Publication Subscriptions: $20-$40

Dropbox/ Linkedin Premium/ Other : $60- $100

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Add in the items from above, the additional monthly cost expenditure by living in Manhattan could range anywhere from $1410 (on the low end) to $4840 +.

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Let’s up the ante shall we? On The Average

If one were to find a Manhattan one bedroom apartment with ample space in a building with a doorman, it would cost an average of $4,000 -$5,500 a month. To be on the same page as the landlord, they would ideally have to make at least $160,000 – $220,000 a year.

On The High End

Add in car garage monthly payments, and other luxuries some of the top earners have, this figure can amplify.

It’s truly up to the New Yorker to determine what it is worth living in the Big Apple, because as they say in New York, everything here is a compromise. No one get’s 100% of what they are looking for.

-GG