Lower East Side/Chinatown Neighborhood Profile

Neighborhood Indicators

Demographics

Indicator	2000	2006	2010	2019	2021
Population
Born in New York State		37.6%	37.2%	35.6%	42.6%
Disabled population			6.2%	7.1%	8.9%
Foreign-born population	40.3%	39.3%	35.2%	35.7%	30.3%
Population	166,379	178,669	159,009	167,128	141,066
Population aged 65+	13.4%	13.7%	14.3%	22.2%	18.8%
Households
Households with children under 18 years old	22.1%	18.3%	16.3%	12.3%	12.5%
Single-person households		47.4%	45.3%	49.9%	50.3%
Race and Ethnicity
Percent Asian	34.8%	34.8%	34.7%	32.8%	28.1%
Percent Black	7.5%	9.7%	6.4%	7.6%	11.0%
Percent Hispanic	27.0%	21.4%	22.9%	25.4%	25.0%
Percent white	28.1%	32.4%	33.7%	30.3%	32.6%
Racial diversity index	0.72	0.72	0.71	0.73	0.74
Income and Poverty
Income diversity ratio		6.9	6.9	10.4	8.6
Median household income (2022$)	$50,810	$51,850	$54,480	$46,050	$52,720
Median household income, homeowners (2022$)		$88,770	$118,460	$106,650	$120,370
Median household income, renters (2022$)		$48,570	$46,860	$41,310	$44,790
Poverty rate	28.4%	25.1%	22.2%	24.0%	24.2%
Poverty rate, population aged 65+		38.2%	25.2%	30.8%	28.6%
Poverty rate, population under 18 years old		39.3%	30.9%	35.7%	32.2%
Labor Market
Labor force participation rate		60.1%	61.2%	56.6%	57.5%
Population aged 25+ without a high school diploma		28.9%	26.6%	28.8%	21.1%
Unemployment rate	9.42%	7.52%	10.10%	5.24%	10.09%

Housing Market and Conditions

Indicator	2000	2006	2010	2019	2021	2022
Housing Stock
Homeownership rate	12.0%	10.8%	13.6%	10.8%	15.5%
Housing units		79,337	77,816	83,942	78,468
Rental vacancy rate			2.4%	2.9%	4.3%
Serious housing code violations (per 1,000 privately owned rental units)		23.4	24.2	46.6	47.6	56.5
Severe crowding rate (% of renter households)			4.0%	3.8%	3.3%
Total housing code violations (per 1,000 privately owned rental units)		132.4	109.9	179.7	202.6	188.4
Finance - Distress
Notices of foreclosure rate (per 1,000 1-4 family and condo properties)	1.5	0.8	3.9	0.9	1.1	0.2
Notices of foreclosure, all residential properties	6	5	24	5	10	5
Notices of foreclosure, initial, 1-4 family and condo properties	1	2	10	3	1	0
Notices of foreclosure, repeat, 1-4 family and condo properties	1	0	2	1	4	1
Pre-foreclosure notice rate (per 1,000 1-4 family and condo properties)				9.7	7.1	13.6
Pre-foreclosure notices, 1-4 family and condo properties				45	35	67
Properties entering REO, 1-4 family	0	0	0
Finance - Lending
FHA/VA-backed home purchase loans (% of home purchase loans)		0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Higher-cost home purchase loans (% of home purchase loans)		2.2%	0.7%	1.3%	0.4%
Higher-cost refinance loans (% of refinance loans)		11.0%	0.3%	0.6%	0.2%
Home purchase loan rate (per 1,000 properties)		28.6	14.6	16.9	23.4
Home purchase loans in LMI tracts (% of home purchase loans)		61.6%	3.4%	47.6%	38.7%
Home purchase loans to LMI borrowers (% of home purchase loans)		1.2%	49.0%	3.7%	2.6%
Refinance loan rate (per 1,000 properties)		10.5	18.3	8.6	24.2
Sales - Volume
Sales volume, 1 family building	1	4	1	3	1	1
Sales volume, 2-4 family building	2	4	3	3	3	1
Sales volume, 5+ family building	37	87	35	37	45	56
Sales volume, condominium	68	277	188	463	323	343
Sales volume, all property types	108	372	227	506	372	401
Sales - Median Prices
Median sales price per unit, 1 family building (2022$)	$1,232,070	$4,159,570	$3,991,620	$8,529,420	$7,957,690	$399,000
Median sales price per unit, 2-4 family building (2022$)	$382,370	$912,480	$804,760	$1,017,400	$1,538,490	$2,107,500
Median sales price per unit, 5+ family building (2022$)	$103,010	$288,080	$232,490	$529,600	$497,190	$407,500
Median sales price per unit, condominium (2022$)	$316,810	$1,071,510	$1,158,860	$1,693,620	$1,743,670	$1,567,130
Sales - Housing Price Index
Index of housing price appreciation, 1 family building info	100.0
Index of housing price appreciation, 2-4 family building	100.0	492.3	369.2	275.8	313.5	742.3
Index of housing price appreciation, 5+ family building	100.0	232.4	253.4	825.9	699.5	684.5
Index of housing price appreciation, condominium	100.0	242.2	244.2	382.0	353.1	370.3
Index of housing price appreciation, all property types	100.0	255.2	268.6	459.6	413.3	435.4
Subsidized Housing
Total number of subsidized properties (properties)						401
HUD Financing or Insurance (properties)						21
HUD Financing or Insurance (units)						1,806
HUD Project-based Rental Assistance Program (properties)						33
HUD Project-based Rental Assistance Program (units)						3,261
Low Income Housing Tax Credit (properties)						62
Low Income Housing Tax Credit (units)						5,797
Public Housing (properties)						36
Public Housing (units)						14,928
Mitchell-Lama (properties)						13
Mitchell-Lama (units)						5,247
421-a Tax Exemption (properties)						31
421-a Tax Exemption (units)						3,620
420-c Tax Exemption (properties)						69
420-c Tax Exemption (units)						2,429
NYC Housing Production Programs and Zoning Incentives or Requirements (properties)						157
Eligible to expire from housing programs between 2023 and 2028 (properties)						15
Eligible to expire from housing programs between 2023 and 2028 (units)						2,093
Eligible to expire from housing programs between 2029 and 2038 (properties)						25
Eligible to expire from housing programs between 2029 and 2038 (units)						2,199
Eligible to expire from housing programs in 2039 and later (properties)						49
Eligible to expire from housing programs in 2039 and later (units)						4,786

Land Use and Development

Indicator	2000	2006	2010	2019	2021	2022
Density
Population density (1,000 persons per square mile)		102.4	91.1	95.8	80.8
Development
Units authorized by new residential building permits	229	0	78	133	584	3,216
Units issued new certificates of occupancy	667	640	443	415	233	375

Neighborhood Services and Conditions

Indicator	2000	2006	2010	2019	2021	2022
Commute
Car-free commute (% of commuters)	86.0%	86.1%	90.7%	92.8%	88.6%
Mean travel time to work (minutes)	30.9	30.3	29.3	30.1	30.5
Crime and Incarceration
Serious crime rate (per 1,000 residents)		15.0	13.8	14.8	17.6	21.4
Serious crime rate, property (per 1,000 residents)		10.4	9.4	10.2	12.8	15.6
Serious crime rate, violent (per 1,000 residents)		4.6	4.4	4.6	4.8	5.8
Schools
Students performing at grade level in English language arts, 4th grade				63.8%		58.8%
Students performing at grade level in math, 4th grade				61.6%		57.6%

Renters

Indicator	2000	2006	2010	2019	2021	2022
Median Rent
Median rent, 2- and 3-bedrooms (2022$)			$990	$1,130	$1,160
Median rent, all (2022$)	$920	$1,090	$1,190	$1,170	$1,250
Median rent, recent movers (2022$)			$2,290	$2,790	$2,800
Median rent, studios and 1-bedrooms (2022$)			$1,180	$1,340	$1,490
Change in collected rent (2019-2020)					-1.3%
Affordability
Rental units affordable at 30% AMI (% of recently available units)			4.4%	7.2%	7.1%
Rental units affordable at 80% AMI (% of recently available units)			30.2%	23.7%	30.3%
Rental units affordable at 120% AMI (% of recently available units)			57.2%	55.3%	58.8%
Rent Burden
Moderately rent-burdened households		22.3%	25.6%	27.9%	27.7%
Moderately rent-burdened households, low income			28.3%	31.5%	30.0%
Moderately rent-burdened households, moderate income			25.6%	42.1%	33.4%
Severely rent-burdened households	19.9%		24.3%	23.8%	24.0%
Severely rent-burdened households, low income			35.7%	35.9%	37.2%
Severely rent-burdened households, moderate income			10.8%	5.1%	3.8%
Rental Subsidy
Housing choice vouchers (% of occupied, privately owned rental units)			3.3%	2.3%
Public housing (% of rental units)						22.6%

DEMOGRAPHICS

In 2021, there were an estimated 141,066 people in Lower East Side/Chinatown, of which 28.1% identified as Asian, 11.0% identified as Black, 25.0% identified as Hispanic, and 32.6% identified as white.

Graph showing the racial and ethnic composition of Lower East Side/Chinatown in both 2000 and 2017-2021.

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In 2021, the household income group with the largest share (24.8%) of households was <= $20,000. In 2000, the same household income group had the largest share as well, with a slightly lower share of 23.3%.

Graph showing the distribution of household income in Lower East Side/Chinatown in both 2000 and 2017-2021.

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Median household income in 2021 was $52,720, about 27% less than citywide median household income ($72,150). The poverty rate in Lower East Side/Chinatown was 24.2% in 2021 compared to 18.0% citywide.

The poverty rate in Lower East Side/Chinatown was 24.2% in 2021 compared to 18.0% citywide.

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The rent distribution shows the share of apartments by their size (according to the number of bedrooms), and then for each apartment size in the community district, the share of apartments according to their monthly gross rent. This distribution compares 5-year ACS figures from 2010 to 5-year ACS figures from 2021.

Graph showing the distribution of rents in Lower East Side/Chinatown in both 2010 and 2017-2021.

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HOUSING

Renters

Real median gross rent in Lower East Side/Chinatown increased from $1,090 in 2006 to $1,250 in 2021. This represents a 14.7% increase over the same period. As of 2021, the change in median gross rent outpaced the change in median household income by 22.5 percentage points. In 2021, 24.0% of renter households in Lower East Side/Chinatown were severely rent burdened (spent more than 50% of household income on rent). 30.3% of the rental units were affordable at 80% Area Median Income, similar to the level in 2010. 22.6% of the rental units were public housing rental units, as of 2022. The overall rental vacancy rate in Lower East Side/Chinatown was 4.3% in 2021.

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Graph showing the change in real median gross rent and median renter household income in Lower East Side/Chinatown from 2006 to 2021.

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22.6% of the rental units in Lower East Side/Chinatown are public housing rental units in 2022.

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Homeowners

In 2021, the homeownership rate in Lower East Side/Chinatown was 15.5%, which is lower than the citywide share of 33.3%. The homeownership rate in the neighborhood has increased by 1.9 percentage points since 2010. In 2021, the home purchase loan rate was 23.4 per 1,000 properties (owner-occupied 1-4 family buildings, condominiums, or cooperative apartments) and the refinance loan rate was 24.2 per 1,000 properties in the neighborhood. Out of all the first-time home purchase loans and refinance loans in Lower East Side/Chinatown, 0.4% and 0.2% were high cost loans, respectively. 5 properties had a filing of mortgage foreclosure in Lower East Side/Chinatown in 2022. There were 0.2 mortgage foreclosure actions initiated per 1,000 1-4 family properties and condominium units.

There were 0.2 mortgage foreclosure notices per 1,000 1-4 family properties and condominium units in Lower East Side/Chinatown in 2022

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Development

The Department of Buildings issued new certificates of occupancy to 375 residential units in new buildings in Lower East Side/Chinatown in 2022, 142 more than the number of units certified in 2021.

Department of Buildings issued new certificates of occupancy to 375 residential units in new buildings in Lower East Side/Chinatown last year, the same as the number of units certified in 2022.

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Over the last decade, 4,299 units in 4+ unit buildings were built in Lower East Side/Chinatown. 69% were market rate, compared to 25% that were income-targeted. We use data from a variety of sources to count the number of income-restricted units targeted to households earning between 80% and 165% of AMI. However, due to restricted availability of granular data our calculations of income-restricted units should be read as conservative estimates. Read more about our methodology in the technical appendix of the 2021 Focus Report.

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NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES AND CONDITIONS

The serious crime rate was 21.4 serious crimes per 1,000 residents in 2022, compared to 14.2 serious crimes per 1,000 residents citywide.

The serious crime rate was 21.4 serious crimes per 1,000 residents in 2022, compared to 14.2 serious crimes per 1,000 residents citywide.

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Data Notes: See CoreData User Guide for more information about indicator definitions and methods.

Indicators: The rental vacancy rate, severe crowding rate, and the severely rent-burdened households indicators use five-year American Community Survey (ACS) estimates. Data under the 2010 heading comes from the 2006 – 2010 ACS, data under the 2019 heading comes from the 2015 – 2019 ACS and data under the 2021 heading comes from 2017 – 2021 ACS .