New York City Neighborhoods Mapped: The Most & Least Expensive

In this past year, New York City dethroned San Francisco to become the most expensive city to rent in the nation. While some Manhattan neighborhoods were priced at over $5,000 a month for one-bedroom units, the most affordable areas had rentals for less than $2,000. To help illustrate this, we’ve revamped our neighborhood heat maps with a fresh gradient design. We’ve also had to adjust the legend of this map from our older version as rents in some areas of Manhattan were priced at above our previous maximum, which goes to show how much demand exists in this rental market currently.

The most expensive neighborhoods

Chelsea Ever trendy Chelsea was the most expensive neighborhood to rent, with one-bedrooms priced at a whopping $5,120. For renters who do not mind that opulent price tag, they can live steps from the famous Chelsea market, take walks on the High Line, and visit any of the many art galleries present.

Tribeca As the only other neighborhood besides Chelsea to have one-bedroom rent cost over $5,000, Tribeca features beautiful cobblestone streets, chic boutiques to find one of a kind fashion pieces, and popular restaurants.

Bowery With rent likely driven up by new buildings and being surrounded by highly-desirable neighborhoods such as Nolita, East Village, and Lower East Side, Bowery had one-bedroom rent priced at $4,890.

The most affordable neighborhoods

Inwood At the most northern tip of Manhattan, Inwood was the most affordable neighborhood with one-bedrooms priced at $1,735 (that’s over $3,000 cheaper than Chelsea, the most expensive neighborhood!).

Washington Heights Inspiring a hit Broadway musical and home to an effervescent Latin American population, Washington Heights was the only other neighborhood on Manhattan, aside from Inwood, that had one-bedroom rent cost less than $2,000.

East Harlem With one-bedroom rent priced at a more reasonable $2,355, East Harlem is known for it’s vibrant Latin, Caribbean, and African American presence and features colorful street art and a vast array of locally-owned restaurants.