Midtown Has Highest Vacancy Rate In NYC, Census Data Shows

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — As the population grew in Midtown and Hell's Kitchen over the past decade, so, too, did the number of vacant apartments, according to the latest census data.

Indeed, the heart of Midtown Manhattan has the highest vacancy rate of any part of the city. "Midtown-Times Square," the city-designated area that covers a swath of the central business district, led New York with a 28.6% vacancy rate, according to Patch's analysis of data from the 2020 Census.

Other parts of Midtown were not far behind. Midtown East/Turtle Bay recorded a 16.6% vacancy rate, while the Midtown South/Flatiron area was 14.3% vacant as of April 2020, when the census was taken.

Housing units are considered vacant if no one is living there on Census Day, unless the occupants are only away temporarily. They are also listed as vacant if the current occupants normally live elsewhere, like many vacation rentals.

A closer look at the census tract-level data shows that vacancies are clustered along the tourist-heavy center of Midtown. (Zoom in and click on the interactive map below. )

The more residential areas in Hell's Kitchen and Midtown East, meanwhile, have vacancy rates in the teens and single digits.

It isn't the first time that Midtown led the city in vacancies: in the 2010 Census, Midtown-Times Square was also tops with a 24.9% rate.

New buildings don't align with vacancies

Notably, while the number of vacant apartments rose in most parts of Midtown, the data does not suggest that new construction spurred that rise.

The blocks that gained the most new housing units since 2010 — most notably the Hell's Kitchen area — have relatively low vacancy rates, the census data shows. Meanwhile, the areas with high vacancy rates had stagnant housing growth between 2010 and 2020.

Indeed, experts have argued that New York's thousands of empty apartments are still nowhere near enough to make up for its desperate housing shortage. While the city grew by more than 629,000 residents since 2010, it added only 247,000 units of housing during that decade, according to the census.

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

Previous coverage:

• Here's Where Midtown, Hell's Kitchen Grew The Most Since 2010
  
• Hell's Kitchen Gained 13,600 People, Got More Diverse This Decade