Report Profiles Demographics of Rent-Stabilized Tenants

The NYU Furman Center recently released a fact brief that details characteristics about the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the tenants who live in stabilized housing. The brief, Profile of Rent Stabilized Units and Tenants in New York City, is an update to a 2012 Furman Center brief. According to the brief, in 2011, roughly 66 percent of tenants living in rent-stabilized units had “low incomes” (less than $58,950 in 2011), compared to roughly 54 percent of tenants in market-rate units.

In Manhattan, the difference in income levels of households living in rent-stabilized units and those living in market-rate rental units was significant. The typical household living in a market-rate rental unit in 2011 had an income more than double that of the typical household living in a stabilized unit.

Rent-stabilized tenants also have slightly smaller household sizes than market-rate tenants. Citywide, they average 2.3 residents per household as opposed to the market rate of 2.6 residents. Rent-stabilized units also house a greater share of households led by seniors. Citywide, over 23 percent of rent-stabilized households are led by a senior, compared to just 7 percent of market-rate households. In addition, citywide, stabilized units house a greater share of minority households, though the shares range significantly by borough. In Manhattan, for example, 52 percent of rent-stabilized households were non-white, compared to just 27 percent of market-rate rental households.

The brief also finds that contract rents for stabilized units were significantly less than contract rents for market-rate units in 2011. In 2011, stabilized units rented for about $1,235 per month less than market-rate units in core Manhattan, but only $228 less than market-rate units outside of core Manhattan.