The 50 lowest-income stations of the NYC subway

NYC subway stations ranked by the lowest median household income of the census tract they sit in.

Where the money is on the New York network

Every station the survey could price, coloured by the income around it, over the city's own streets.

$11,406$54,087$76,781$122,358$250,001

Distribution across the 412 stations the survey could price.

Colour runs on rank, not on the raw figure, so the ramp is spent evenly across the network. The wash under the lines spreads that colour between neighbouring stations, so the pattern reads at a glance. Dot size is annual ridership. Hover a station for its numbers.

1
Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall / Chambers Street
456
$11,406
2
Chambers Street
JZ
$11,406
3
21st Street–Queensbridge
M
$21,667
4
125th Street
456
$21,967
5
174th Street
25
$22,286
6
Flushing Avenue
G
$22,291
7
125th Street
ACBD
$22,743
8
138th Street–Grand Concourse
45
$22,850

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9
149th Street–Grand Concourse
245
$22,850
10
Third Avenue–138th Street
6
$22,850
11
Sutter Avenue
L
$23,821
12
East 143rd Street – St. Mary's Street
6
$24,122
13
Simpson Street
25
$24,485
14
West Farms Square – East Tremont Avenue
25
$24,823
15
East Broadway
F
$25,655
16
Beach 44th Street
A
$27,115
17
Brook Avenue
6
$27,378
18
Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road
3
$28,697
19
Ocean Parkway
Q
$28,952
20
207th Street
1
$29,038

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21
215th Street
1
$29,038
22
Cypress Avenue
6
$29,206
23
110th Street
6
$31,068
24
174th–175th Streets
BD
$31,500
25
Bronx Park East
25
$32,174
26
East 180th Street
25
$32,174
27
Beach 36th Street
A
$33,727
28
167th Street
BD
$33,950
29
Morrison Avenue – Soundview
6
$34,436
30
Jackson Avenue
25
$34,484
31
Longwood Avenue
6
$34,543
32
167th Street
4
$34,871
33
Third Avenue – 149th Street
25
$34,890
34
Broadway
G
$35,333
35
Lorimer Street
MJZ
$35,333
36
168th Street
1AC
$35,647
37
Gun Hill Road
25
$36,398
38
116th Street
6
$36,696
39
Avenue U
Q
$36,984
40
191st Street
1
$37,681
41
Chauncey Street
JZ
$38,036
42
Rockaway Avenue
C
$38,036
43
Hewes Street
MJZ
$38,690
44
Marcy Avenue
MJZ
$38,690
45
New Lots Avenue
L
$39,005
46
Tremont Avenue
BD
$39,419
47
Liberty Avenue
C
$39,940
48
Van Siclen Avenue
JZ
$39,940
49
176th Street
4
$40,394
50
Junius Street
3
$40,525

The income shown is the median household income of the census tract containing the station (American Community Survey 2018-2022, table B19013, in current dollars). It reflects the surrounding neighborhood, not the riders. The bottom of the ranking is overwhelmingly the Bronx, which takes 22 of the 50 places, followed by Brownsville, East New York and the J/Z corridor through Bushwick and Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn, then Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood in Manhattan. The two lowest values both fall in the Civic Center tract at Chambers Street, which is mostly courts and offices with only a few hundred households, so its median rests on a very small sample. The spread across the network is a factor of 22 between this list and the richest one.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year 2018-2022 (B19013_001E), Census Geocoder for station-to-tract mapping, MTA (station positions).