People moving to NYC should come with a dream, a good pair of walking shoes—and, depending on where they plan to live, a million-dollar salary.

Six-Figure Salaries for Six Exclusive Neighborhoods

Six neighborhoods in the city require homebuyers to earn seven figures to even consider making an offer on a tony address, according to new research compiled by Realtor.com®.

The most expensive neighborhood in the five boroughs is Nolita, where the median home costs an eye-watering $5,351,875. Any aspiring or current New Yorker who wants to live in the four-block-wide Manhattan neighborhood—which is now the center of trendy boutiques and chic restaurants—needs to earn $1,433,781 a year to afford a home there.

The Real Cost of Affluence in NYC

“The six most expensive ZIP codes in the NYC metro area all require a minimum household income of more than $1 million to remain within affordability recommendations,” says Realtor.com® senior economic research analyst Hannah Jones. “These areas attract luxury buyers with median listing prices of $4 million or more.” To size up the required income needed to buy a home in various neighborhoods in this metro, Realtor.com did a deep dive on localized listing prices, then presumed, as a benchmark, that homebuyers would make a 13.6% down payment, spend 30% of their income on housing, and face a 6.95% mortgage rate along with 1.17% in taxes and insurance.

For three of the neighborhoods that require a seven-figure salary to call it home, look below 14th Street to areas dominated by acronyms—think Tribeca, NoHo, and SoHo. Other pricey ZIP codes include Manhattan’s Flatiron District and Loveladies Beach Haven, NJ, in the greater tri-state area.

Upper East and West Sides: The Price of Prestige

Above 14th Street, the median homes in both the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan command list prices north of $1,800,000. Homeowners wishing to buy a home on either side of Central Park need to earn $535,202 and $484,837, respectively, to land a footprint in the city. Yet what’s aptly known as “Money Making Manhattan” isn’t quite as pricey as it has been in the past. In the second quarter of 2024, the median real estate sales price in Manhattan fell 1.5% to $1.2 million, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel.

Brooklyn’s Billion-Dollar Boroughs

Manhattan doesn’t hold a monopoly on expensive real estate in NYC. Brooklyn isn’t so budget-friendly, either. Anyone looking to buy a place in Carroll Gardens needs to earn $718,983 a year, while Cobble Hill demands a yearly salary of $698,723. The salary needed in Boerum Hill is close behind, at $689,280. The median list prices for homes in these leafy areas known for brownstones and families range from $2,683,750 in Carroll Gardens to $2,572,875 in Boerum Hill.

NYC’s Relative Bargains

If you haven’t quite cracked the highest echelon of earners, don’t worry. While NYC is an expensive place to call home overall, there are less expensive neighborhoods to be found in the metro and surrounding environs. It’s no secret that the farther you get from the downtown epicenter of Manhattan, the less you’ll have to pay for a home—and the further a five- or six-figure salary stretches.

“The most affordable neighborhoods in the NYC metro are mostly in the Bronx and Yonkers,” says Jones. “Homes in these areas are priced below the national median and the metro area’s median.” For homebuyers who want to stick to the city, Inwood offers the most bang for the buck. Homes in the tip of Manhattan cost a median of $471,875 and can be had on a yearly salary of $126,417.

Manhattan’s Shifting Market

Manhattan is becoming a buyer’s market as apartment prices fell and inventory rose in the second quarter of 2024, according to new reports. The average real estate sales price in Manhattan fell 3% to just more than $2 million, according to a report from Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel. The median price fell 2% to $1.2 million, and prices for luxury apartments fell for the first time in more than a year, according to the report.

Affordable Gems in NYC

So, what’s the most affordable neighborhood in NYC? Look to the South Bronx neighborhood of Highbridge, known for the infamous “Joker” stairs from the film starring Joaquin Phoenix. The area, so-called for the tall, arched bridge that spans the East River and connects the Bronx to Harlem, has a median list price of $149,936, meaning buyers can make an offer if they make $40,168 a year.

In Brooklyn, budget-conscious shoppers can nab a home close to the beach—and Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs—in Coney Island, where the median list price reaches $417,000 and the minimum required income is $111,715. Up-and-coming Queens neighborhoods like Jackson Heights have a median list price of $367,472, which means buyers must earn $98,447 to live in an apartment or house there. In the Bronx enclave of Riverdale, which hugs the Hudson River, potential homeowners need to make $98,186 to buy a median-priced home at $366,500. Over in the Lawrence Park West area of Yonkers, near the elite Sarah Lawrence College, the median-priced home costs $281,875, meaning buyers need to bring home $75,515 a year.