"Affordable" rents rise with 2025 Area Median Income, so a 1-bedroom at 60% of AMI could now rent for $1,822. That may not be realistic. But ceiling will rise.

Sometime in the last week, the updated 2025 New York City Area Affordable Monthly Rents surfaced on the website of the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), with an increase of about 4.3% over 2024 figures, correlating with the rise in Area Median Income, or AMI.

See more on this below

(I wrote about the rise in AMI April 28.)

Bottom line: for low-income units at 60% of AMI, which is the average affordable unit required under the 485-x tax break (likely for the next Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park towers) and under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Option 1 in the recently-passed Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan (AAMUP), the 2025 maximum rents would be:

• studio: $1,701, up from $1,640
• 1-BR: $1,822, up from $1,747
• 2-BR: $2,187, up from $2,097
• 3-BR: $2,527, up from $2,422

HPD notes that those are the maximum rents, while specific rent amounts may vary by program. So it's likely those rent ceilings may not correlate to most or all of the units rented this year at 60% of AMI.

(Note: 80% of AMI is still considered "low-income," and that could mean a studio at $2,268 and a one-bedroom at $2,430.)

That said, the steadily rising AMI means that, when units in either Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park or AAMUP locations are rented, the rents will be higher. 

That's an argument for units at lower AMIs. That could require more subsidy, or it would reduce the percentage of affordable units from, for example, 25% of the total to 20%.

The rent levels

The info on new rent levels was updated sometime between June 5 and today--nearly half a year in! 

Note that a two- or three-bedroom unit seems a bargain compared to a studio or one-bedroom, and thus has a much larger degree of discount from a comparable market-rate unit.

 

2025 monthly rent ceilings

That $1,701 studio could be rented by an individual earning $68,040. That $1,822 one-bedroom could be rented by a household earning $77,760. That $2,187 two-bedroom could be rented by a household earning $87,480.

The 2024 comparison is below.

2025 monthly rent ceilings

More expensive units

The phrase "affordable for whom" comes to mind when we look at middle-income units at 130% of AMI, which was the standard under the expired 421-a tax break:

• studio: $3,685, up from $3,532
• 1-BR: $3,948, up from $3,786
• 2-BR: $4,738, up from $4,543

Remember that "affordable" doesn't mean "cheap rent."

It merely means "income-targeted" or "income-linked," aiming at 30% of household income.