Poverty and Food Insecurity in NYC

New York City has a poverty rate of almost twice the national average — New York City had a poverty rate of 23% in 2022, where the nation overall poverty rate was only 12%. According to the NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy annual 2022 Food Metrics Annual Report, an estimated 1.2 million (14.6%) New York City residents were food insecure.

The federal poverty line is the estimate of the price of a minimum food diet for a given family size, multiplied by three. This measure is exactly the same across the country — in 2024 a family of four is counted as living in poverty if their income is below $31,200, regardless of if they live in Manhattan or in a rural area.

In reality, costs vary dramatically across the country, and even within the City. When we use a measure of “True Cost of Living” (that accounts for different rent and food costs across the city, and includes other basic needs like medical and childcare) a total of half of households in New York City are earning below their True Cost of Living.

Even using the national poverty measure, New York City has a higher poverty rate than the nation at large in four boroughs:

• Bronx, 27.6%
• Brooklyn, 19.8%
• Manhattan, 17.2%
• Queens, 13.1%
• National, 11.5%
• Staten Island, 11.2%

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• provides assistance to 1,058,883 households in NYC
• determines eligibility based on income, number of people in the household, and age
• Awards up to a maximum of $219 per person per month (~7 per day)

In New York City, SNAP is used at different rates in different parts of the city. Explore the map below featuring data from April 2024 to see where SNAP is most heavily used and how that has changed over the past year

Community Food Connection