New York City still pulls many Latinos like a magnet. But new research shows that for most Hispanic families who already live there, the numbers simply don’t add up. Even as a smaller group of Latinos builds successful businesses and careers, the majority are falling far short of what it actually costs to live with stability in the city.
The true cost of living in NYC
The Urban Institute, working with New York City, created a True Cost of Living (TCOL) measure that calculates what families really need to cover basics: housing, food, health care, child care, transportation, technology, taxes and some savings. This goes far beyond the outdated federal poverty line and reflects real prices in each borough.
Using this measure, the study found that about 62% of people in families in New York City do not have enough income to meet their local True Cost of Living, meaning they are not “poised to thrive.” A city brief based on the same data shows that, on average, families need roughly $159,000 a year to reach economic security, but typical resources are closer to $124,000—leaving a gap of about $35,000 per year.
A summary from Gothamist highlights the same gap, noting that most New Yorkers are falling short of covering their living costs by around $40,000 a year once all basic needs are included, underscoring how widely incomes lag behind real expenses.
For Latino families, the gap is even worse
Within that citywide crisis, Latinos are among those hit hardest. El Diario, citing the same study, reports that around 78% of Hispanic families in New York do not have enough income to cover the “costo real de vida” in the city, making Latinos the group with the highest rate of economic insecurity under the TCOL measure. Other outlets have echoed the same figure, stressing that Hispanics are the most affected by New York’s high rents, food prices and basic costs…