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\n Making the median household income in New York City and wanting to live in \u201caffordable\u201d housing means you\u2019ll have to settle for a glorified broom closet in Manhattan.
\n Photo: Stephanie Keith\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images\n <\/p>\n
It perhaps goes without saying that the typical New Yorker\u2019s salary won\u2019t get you much in terms of actual living space, but now we can say exactly how little it gets you. According to some number crunching<\/a> at the New York Times, if you\u2019re hoping to spend less than 30 percent of your income on housing\u00a0(the threshold of what\u2019s considered \u201caffordable\u201d), the median household income in New York City\u00a0\u2014\u00a0about $77,000 \u2014 will get you a Manhattan apartment of roughly 275 square feet. That is, for reference, more or less a hotel room. And not a particularly grand one.<\/p>\n The Times analysis of data from RentCafe and the firm Yardi Matrix found that your dollar will get you a teeny bit more space in Brooklyn \u2014\u00a0an extra 104 square feet \u2014\u00a0and a luxurious 441 square feet in Queens. To put a finer point on it: Most New Yorkers can afford what\u2019s essentially a micro-apartment.<\/p>\n Which is maybe why many real-estate executives and city lawmakers have tried, to various levels of success, to make those a thing in the city. In 2012, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a pilot program to develop<\/a> the first micro-unit building, which he called \u201chousing that matches how New Yorkers live today.\u201d That meant units that would be 275 square feet to 300 square feet, including kitchen and bathroom space. (Those first rented for just over $2,700 a month in 2016.) We\u2019ve even made the case for the return of the SRO here before<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious what this kind of apartment might look and feel like, there\u2019s a TikTok genre of interior-d\u00e9cor videos made by people living in the teeniest apartments the city has to offer. These micro-influencers share storage tips (and Amazon affiliate links, of course) to things like a $489 daybed with storage.<\/p>\n Until \u2014\u00a0and if \u2014\u00a0the City of Yes<\/a> family-size apartment dividends ever pay out, these are the options we appear to be left with. But there are non-bleak versions of tiny living out there: My colleague Wendy Goodman recently profiled<\/a> the 275-square-foot home of Claude-No\u00eblle Toly, who managed to turn a third-floor swatch on Bleecker Street into \u201cher own little \u00adAvignon.\u201d There are French doors that lead to a balcony, terra-cotta floors, and a two-burner stove beneath custom cupboards. She\u2019s even got in-unit washing.<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Curbed Newsletter<\/p>\n A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n