- Brooklyn’s high-income renter households rose 120.1% to about 92,400 between 2014 and 2024, accounting for roughly 52% of New York City’s 97,100 added households.
- Manhattan still has the most, at about 134,400, but its lead over Brooklyn shrank from roughly 73,000 households in 2014 to about 42,000.
- The share of Brooklyn households earning $200K or more (in 2024 dollars) who rent climbed from 42.1% to 51.5% as home values rose 60.2%.
Brooklyn is where New York’s high-income renters are multiplying, according to Chandan Economics.
Brooklyn counted about 92,400 renter households with income of $200K or more (in constant 2024 dollars), more than double the 42,000 of a decade earlier.
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Brooklyn Leads the Growth
That is a gain of roughly 50,400 households, a 120.1% jump and about 52% of the 97,100 the city added. Brooklyn’s gain exceeded Manhattan’s and Queens’ combined.
Manhattan and Queens each added about 20,000.
Manhattan Keeps the Crown
Manhattan rose from about 115,000 affluent renter households to 134,400, up 16.9%. Its edge over Brooklyn was about 42,000 households in 2024.
That cushion was roughly 73,000 in 2014. Manhattan leads in sheer numbers; Brooklyn leads in growth.
Queens, the Bronx and the Metro
Queens rose 77.6%, to about 47,200 households. The Bronx climbed 88.3% to about 10,900, though a smaller sample makes that estimate less certain.
Metro-wide, affluent renting expanded 52.2%, from about 276,100 households to 420,200.
Renting Gets Stickier
At that income level, renters made up 42.1% of Brooklyn households in 2014 and 51.5% in 2024, so affluent renting outpaced affluent owning.
Zillow data put the typical Brooklyn home value near $866,700 in 2024, up 60.2% from $541,200 in 2014. A 20% down payment grew from about $108,200 to $173,300.
Zoom Out
Wealthier renters can also push prices up. We covered how cost burdens rose where high-income renters grew fastest.
Chandan’s data don’t show why each household rents, but the ownership math helps explain it.
Why It Matters
A high income no longer leads to a purchase in Brooklyn. That supports demand for upscale rentals in markets once seen as ownership territory.
It echoes mortgage rates research showing rates would need to fall to 5.5% before buying beats renting.
What’s Next
Watch whether outer-borough rents and new luxury supply keep pace with this affluent renter base, as the city’s housing plans move ahead.
