NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any borough

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by sethev on Monday April 06, 2026 @06:41PM (#47668309)

I don't doubt that number, but it's always a bit baffling to look at the median income in expensive cities. New York city's median household income is $87k, which means that the majority of households are well below the income level it takes to live there.

That stresses me out just to think about it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by api on Monday April 06, 2026 @06:59PM (#47668496)

This baffles me too. I don’t understand how “normal” people let alone lower income people live in places like SF/SV, NYC, etc. The math doesn’t math. Yet these cities have these people and could not function without them.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by JCattheATM on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:05PM (#47668558)

> The math doesn’t math.

It maths fine, it's just that the assumptions being input are wrong.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by windowsrookie on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:04PM (#47668537)

People making $80-90K can live a similar lifestyle to the people making $125K+, they just aren't saving any money. I know people that do this, live their whole life with less than $5k in the bank.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by dangus on Monday April 06, 2026 @06:52PM (#47668418)

Oops I read this wrong.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by kritiko on Monday April 06, 2026 @06:58PM (#47668487)

Majority is correct if you go by the $125k figure (which is skewed by public listing data, I’m sure)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by nixosbestos on Monday April 06, 2026 @06:58PM (#47668480)

Huh? 87k is the median, not mean, so majority would be perfectly accurate....?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by revv00 on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:11PM (#47668608)

Even 87k is a huge number, is it due to some selection bias?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by dangus on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:01PM (#47668507)

Oops I read this wrong.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:NYC families need over $125k in income to live in any bor... by detaro on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:03PM (#47668523)

and 87k is quite a bit below 125k.

[ Parent | on HN ]