A Portrait of Rent Stabilization in New York City using Data from the Poverty Tracker

• In Event: Innovative Rental Market and Neighborhood Data

Abstract

Introduction/Background: Roughly half of New York City’s renters reside in rent-stabilized housing, units for which year-over-year rent increases are capped and regulated by the Rent Guidelines Board. The rent stabilization program is meant to provide a more reliable, affordable alternative to the city’s infamously capricious market-rate housing. However, limited research exists on the characteristics of tenants in rent-stabilized housing with respect to overlapping experiences of disadvantage and how these vary by demographics.  To what extent are these units affordable for the families who inhabit them? Who relies on rent-stabilized housing, how does it benefit them, and how might its impact be further heightened? We draw on data from the Poverty Tracker to answer these questions and provide a portrait of New Yorkers living in rent stabilized housing. Research Question/Purpose: In particular, our report examines rates of rent burden, affordability struggles, and experiences of disadvantage among rent-stabilized tenants across  three key measures: poverty, material hardship, and health problems. We also examine how these experiences vary by demographics. Crucially, our analysis attempts to quantify the positive impact of rent stabilization as an anti-poverty tool, investigating how many more New Yorkers would be in poverty if the program did not exist.. In doing so, we also highlight the need for additional policy interventions. Data/Methods: To evaluate rent-stabilized tenants' experiences, our analysis draws on data from the Poverty Tracker. The Poverty Tracker is a representative longitudinal survey of New Yorkers administered by researchers at Columbia University, in partnership with the Robin Hood foundation. It provides critical information on the dynamics of poverty and other forms of disadvantage in New York City (e.g., material hardship and health problems). This report draws on cross-sectional data collected from the second through sixth study cohorts between 2022 and 2025. Questions about housing type allow us to identify the population of renters living in rent-stabilized units and compare them with market-rate renters and homeowners. To answer questions about poverty status, we utilize the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which accounts for geographic variation in costs of living and the role of government taxes and transfers when defining the poverty line. Results: We find rent stabilization in New York City to be an effective anti-poverty tool, reducing the SPM poverty rate by an average of 9 percentage points per year (across years 2022 - 2024). Despite this, roughly two-thirds of rent-stabilized tenants are low-income (defined as living at 100-200% of the poverty line) and many continue to struggle with various forms of hardship. Over one-third of rent-stabilized tenants are afflicted by severe material hardship, roughly 43% are considered rent-burdened, and over 80% report making at least one change to essential spending or saving habits in response to rising costs. Overall, the data highlights both the value of New York City's rent stabilization program and the need for additional policy interventions to help low-income tenants get by in one of the nation's most expensive locales.

Authors

• Schuyler Ross, Columbia University
  Presenting Author

• Daniel Salgado, Columbia University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author