What "affordable housing" actually means in New York

Housing is considered affordable if it costs about one-third or less of what the people living there earn. Income eligibility and rent for City-financed affordable housing projects are based on a measure called Area Median Income (AMI).

The AMI for all cities across the country is defined each year by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The 2026 AMI for the New York City region is $152,700 for a three-person family (100% AMI).

Region is the word doing the work: the federal number covers the metropolitan area, suburbs included.

Housing is considered affordable if it costs about one-third or less of household income, and is regulated so the rent can't go up dramatically over time.

The second half is the part the word affordable leaves out: the rent stays regulated over time rather than merely starting low.

Extremely Low-Income: 0-30%. Very Low-Income: 31-50%. Low-Income: 51-80%. Moderate-Income: 81-120%. Middle-Income: 121-165%.

When a listing says it is for moderate-income households, that means a family earning somewhere between 81% and 120% of AMI, which for a family of three in 2026 runs from about $122,160 to $183,240 a year. Affordable covers a far wider income range than low-income.

One-bedroom: $911, $1,215, $1,518, $1,822, $2,126, $2,430, $2,733, $3,037, $3,341, $3,644, $3,948, $5,011.

Those are the 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 110%, 120%, 130%, and 165% of AMI columns, in order. The $3,948 one-bedroom at 130% is an affordable unit under the program's definition. That sentence is usually where the argument starts.

Note: The above rents represent the maximum rent that can be charged by AMI; specific rent amounts may vary by program.

To ensure fairness and equality, qualified applicants are chosen through a randomized lottery system.

In order to be eligible, you must be 18 years old, and your household income needs to be in a specific range for each affordable housing opportunity. Applicants will be required to meet additional guidelines, including asset limits, and tenant selection criteria to qualify.

A range, with a floor as well as a ceiling. Earning too little for a given unit disqualifies an applicant as surely as earning too much, unless a voucher covers the rent.

After the deadline, all applications – paper and online— go into a computer system, which gives a random number to each application. This is your log number.

The log number is the lottery. Nothing about when you applied within the window matters; the computer draws once per application after the window closes.

Lotteries receive many applications, and it can take some time after the deadline to process your application. You may hear back sooner if you receive a low log number or if you meet one or more of the preferences. If you have a high log number, you are less likely to hear back.

Preferences are the set-asides a lottery reserves for particular applicants; meeting one moves an application up the queue.

If your application is selected, you’ll be asked to upload and share documents like personal ID and paystubs, which will be used to confirm your eligibility. You’ll also be asked to complete a credit check or provide proof of rental history. If everything checks out and there is a unit available, your application will be approved!

The log number earns a document review; the documents earn the apartment.

Enacted in 2016, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) is a zoning tool created by the Department of City Planning and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) that ensures that a share of new housing in communities rezoned for growth is permanently income-restricted and affordable, helping create more economically diverse communities across New York City.

Wherever MIH applies, any new building, enlargement or conversion above 10 units or 12,500 square feet must include a set percentage of permanently income-restricted affordable housing.

Mandatory is the operative word. Where the map applies, a developer does not get to opt out; the only choice is which option.

Option 1: 25% of the residential floor area is affordable to households earning an average of 60% of AMI, of which 10% shall be affordable to families earning 40% of AMI. Option 2: 30% of the residential floor area is affordable to households earning an average of 80% of AMI. Option 3: 20% of the residential floor area is affordable to households earning an average of 40% of AMI.

That is the answer to how much affordable housing a development has to include: 25, 30, or 20 percent of its floor area, depending on which option the rezoning mapped and how deep the affordability goes. The percentages apply to floor area rather than to a count of apartments.

Option 4: 30% of the residential floor area shall be affordable to families earning an average of 115% of AMI, of which 5% must be affordable to families earning 90% of AMI and another 5% must be affordable to families earning 70% of AMI.

The workforce option, available only where a rezoning included it, aimed at households above the median.

MIH creates permanently income-restricted affordable housing; there are no expiration dates.

MIH units never graduate to market rate.

Every land use action to apply MIH goes through NYC’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP).

Buildings between 10 and 25 units (or 12,500 and 25,000 square feet) may, as an alternative to Options 1-4, submit a payment into an affordable housing fund.

The small-building escape hatch: below 25 units a developer can pay into a fund instead of building the units on site.

Mandatory Inclusionary Housing represents the floor, not the ceiling, of affordability that would ultimately be achieved in new development.