Queens

Queens (Queens County) had 2,405,464 residents at the 2020 census, a new peak; the NYU Furman Center estimates 2,316,841 for 2024. It had about 919,800 homes in 2023, a quarter of the city's housing stock, and a very low net rental vacancy rate of about 0.88%.

Key figures for 2024 (NYU Furman Center, incomes and rents in 2025 dollars):

• Foreign-born residents: 47.5%, the highest of the five boroughs
• Median household income: $88,160
• Homeownership rate: 44.4%
• Households with children under 18: 26.7%
• Mean commute to work: 43.8 minutes

Queens is a large and varied borough. Nearly half of its residents were born abroad, and 44.4% of households own their home, far more than in Manhattan, Brooklyn or the Bronx. Neighborhoods in the west of the borough, such as Astoria, are close to Manhattan by subway, while large parts of eastern Queens have no subway station and depend on buses. John F. Kennedy International Airport is in southern Queens.

The MTA's station list shows 13 subway routes with stations in Queens: the 7, and the A, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, R, W and Z, plus the Rockaway Park shuttle (S). The 7 runs to Flushing–Main St, the E, F, M and R serve stations such as Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Av and Forest Hills–71 Av, and the N and W end at Astoria–Ditmars Blvd. Stations at Howard Beach and Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue connect to JFK Airport. Large parts of eastern Queens are beyond the subway and rely on buses.

Queens has the second-highest homeownership rate of the five boroughs. In 2024 the median rent paid by all renters was $1,980, and households that had recently moved paid a median of $2,360. Median rents were about $1,820 for studios and one-bedrooms and $2,220 for two- and three-bedroom homes. 28.0% of renter households were severely rent-burdened.

More than a quarter of households have children under 18. Children attend their zoned public school from kindergarten to grade 8. Queens has some of the city's largest parks: Flushing Meadows Corona Park (about 871 acres), Alley Pond Park, Forest Park, Cunningham Park and the Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk.