Staten Island

Staten Island (Richmond County) had 495,747 residents at the 2020 census, a new peak; the NYU Furman Center estimates 498,212 for 2024. It had about 184,800 homes in 2023, 5% of the city's housing stock; there were too few vacant rentals to calculate a reliable vacancy rate.

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

• Foreign-born residents: 26.4%, the lowest of the five boroughs
• Median household income: $101,220
• Homeownership rate: 67.7%, by far the highest of the five boroughs
• Households with children under 18: 32.0%, the highest of the five boroughs
• Mean commute to work: 45.4 minutes, the longest of the five boroughs

Staten Island is more suburban than the other boroughs: most households own their home and a larger share have children. It has some of the city's largest parks and a public boardwalk and beach.

Staten Island has no subway line. It is served by the Staten Island Railway (21 stations in the MTA's station list) and buses, and from St. George the free Staten Island Ferry crosses to Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan. The ferry runs 24 hours a day, every 15 to 20 minutes in weekday rush hours and every 30 minutes at other times. Commutes averaged 45.4 minutes in 2024, the longest in the city.

Most homes are owner-occupied. For renters, the median rent paid by all renters was $1,780 in 2024, and households that had recently moved paid a median of $1,940; median rents were about $1,480 for studios and one-bedrooms and $2,070 for two- and three-bedroom homes. 32.1% of renter households were severely rent-burdened. Rentals are scarce, so start your search early.

About a third of households have children under 18, the highest share in the city. Children attend their zoned public school from kindergarten to grade 8. Parks include Freshkills Park (about 953 acres in the City's parks data), LaTourette Park, Great Kills Park, Wolfe's Pond Park, Conference House Park and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach.