Hell's Kitchen Gained 13,600 People, Got More Diverse This Decade

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — Think the streets are more crowded in Hell's Kitchen these days than they were a few years ago? You wouldn't be mistaken: the neighborhood has gained more than 13,600 residents since 2010, according to new census data.

Data from the 2020 Census, released this month, shows that Hell's Kitchen now has a population of 59,524: a 29.7 percent increase from 10 years prior, when it had 45,884 residents.

Those residents are also more racially diverse: the neighborhood's share of white people shrunk in the past decade, while the percentages of Black, Asian and multiracial people all grew.

Keep reading for an analysis of each trend, including graphics. (This is the first in a series of articles breaking down insights from the 2020 Census in Hell's Kitchen.)

New construction spurred growth

There's at least one simple reason why Hell's Kitchen grew so much in recent years: "substantial levels of new construction," according to an analysis by the City Planning Department.

Other fast-growing neighborhoods like Chelsea-Hudson Yards, Financial District-Battery Park also saw lots of development since 2010, the report found. (The census was taken in April 2020, meaning it may not capture some changes brought about by the pandemic.)

The city as a whole swelled by about 600,000 people since 2010, to 8.8 million. Only two areas got smaller: the Lower East Side and East Village, and Washington Heights and Inwood in Upper Manhattan.

Whites no longer a majority in Hell's Kitchen

On the whole, Hell's Kitchen is a more diverse neighborhood than it was 10 years ago, according to the data.

While the number of white residents increased along with the overall population, they were outpaced by Asian residents, whose numbers grew by 5,125.

In fact, white people grew at the lowest rate of any group in Hell's Kitchen since 2010. While the white population swelled by about 14 percent, Hispanics grew by around 24 percent, Black residents by 45 percent, Asians by 74 percent, and multiracial people by 120 percent. (Far more Americans identified as multiracial on the 2020 Census than in previous years'.)

Overall, Hell's Kitchen is now about 49.5 percent white, down from 56.4 percent in 2010, meaning whites, while still the largest group in the neighborhood, are no longer the majority.

Editor's note: The maps in this story are meant to help with visualization and may not include slight changes to neighborhood boundaries made in the 2020 census count. For a look at the exact boundaries to which the data corresponds, click here.

This is the first in a series of articles breaking down insights from the 2020 Census in Hell's Kitchen. To stay on top of future installments, subscribe to the newsletter from Midtown-Hell's Kitchen Patch