New York State population and demographics

New York is the 4th largest state, with 20.0 million people, behind California (39,355,309), Texas (31,709,821) and Florida (23,462,518) and well ahead of fifth-placed Pennsylvania (13,059,432). It holds 5.85% of the US population and is the largest in the Northeast¹. Every figure on this page is for the state as a whole; the site does not cover cities or counties.

Two centuries at or near the top

New York was the most populous state at every census from 1810 through 1960. The 1970 Census counted 18,236,967 New Yorkers, which made it 2nd of 51; the 1980 count was lower, at 17,558,072⁹, the only census in which the state's population fell. It ranked 3rd of 51 in 2000 and 4th of 51⁶ in 2020.

Source: Census Bureau, Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals by Race, 1790 to 1990; Census Bureau, 2020 Census apportionment results and historical resident population 1910-2020; Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Census counts every ten years (April 1); estimates for July 1 after 2020.

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Year	New York
1790	340,120
1800	589,051
1810	959,049
1820	1,372,812
1830	1,918,608
1840	2,428,921
1850	3,097,394
1860	3,880,735
1870	4,382,759
1880	5,082,871
1890	6,003,174
1900	7,268,894
1910	9,113,614
1920	10,385,227
1930	12,588,066
1940	13,479,142
1950	14,830,192
1960	16,782,304
1970	18,236,967
1980	17,558,072
1990	17,990,455
2000	18,976,457
2010	19,378,102
2020	20,201,249
2021	19,835,345
2022	19,713,025
2023	19,786,543
2024	20,001,419
2025	20,002,427

The Census Bureau's annual estimates peaked at 20,220,321¹ in 2019. The 2020 Census then counted 20,201,249, up 4.2% on 2010, 3.2 percentage points below the US figure (7.4%)⁶. After the census the state lost one House seat (−1, leaving 26¹⁰).

Nearly a quarter of residents born abroad

New York had 4,673,727 foreign-born residents in 2025 (±50,876), the 4th highest number of any state. As a share of the population, 23.4% (±0.3 percentage points), it ranks 3rd highest, behind California (27.2%) and New Jersey (24.9%), and 8.7 percentage points above the US figure (14.7%)¹¹.

New Jersey24.9% ±0.3

New York23.4% ±0.3

Massachusetts19.1% ±0.4

Connecticut15.7% ±0.5

Rhode Island14.9% ±0.8

United States14.7% ±0.1

Pennsylvania8.4% ±0.2

Vermont5.4% ±0.6

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2025, table B05002. Whiskers show the 90% margin of error. Period: 2025.

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State	Foreign-born share of population	MOE
New Jersey	24.9%	±0.3
New York	23.4%	±0.3
Massachusetts	19.1%	±0.4
Connecticut	15.7%	±0.5
Rhode Island	14.9%	±0.8
United States	14.7%	±0.1
Pennsylvania	8.4%	±0.2
Vermont	5.4%	±0.6

The mix of birthplaces differs from the national one mainly in Europe. People born in Europe make up 13.8% of the state's immigrants, 4.3 percentage points above the US figure (9.5%). Latin America accounts for 47.4%, 2.9 percentage points below the US figure (50.3%), and Asia for 31.8%, which is not statistically different from the US figure (31.9%)¹¹.

New York's immigrants are more often citizens than immigrants nationally: 60.6% are naturalized, 6.7 percentage points above the US figure (53.9%)¹¹. Noncitizens are 9.2%¹² of all residents. In fiscal year 2024, 85,700 people became citizens in New York, 4.3 per 1,000 residents, the 2nd highest¹⁴ rate of any state, and 136,750¹³ received green cards, 6.8 per 1,000 residents, second only to Florida (9.4 per 1,000 residents¹⁵).

Since 2020: departures to other states, arrivals from abroad

Between the April 2020 census base and July 2025, New York's population changed by −201,269, the lowest in the nation in number, slightly larger than California's loss (−200,394). As a share of residents the fall was −1.00%, the 3rd lowest¹ rate.

Three flows explain the total. Births exceeded deaths by 167,522, the 3rd highest natural increase of any state. Net international migration added 749,337. Against that, −1.1 million more people moved from New York to other states than moved in (−1,106,013), the 2nd lowest figure in the country after California (−1,691,867¹).

Births+1,082,933

Deaths−915,411

Net domestic migration−1,106,013

Net international migration+749,337

Residual (estimation adjustment)−12,115

Total change−201,269

Source: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Each bar starts where the previous one ended. The residual is the part of the change the Census Bureau cannot assign to a component.

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Component	People
Births	1,082,933
Deaths	−915,411
Net domestic migration	−1,106,013
Net international migration	749,337
Residual (estimation adjustment)	−12,115
Total change	−201,269

The year-by-year table shows how the balance shifted. Domestic losses were largest in the year to June 2021 (−326,190) and shrank to −119,231 by 2024. Meanwhile arrivals from abroad rose to 290,637 in the year to June 2024, the 3rd highest in the country, enough to turn total net migration positive that year (171,406¹).

In the year to June 2025 both components worked against growth. International migration fell to 95,634, in line with the national drop from 2,734,468 to 1,262,202, while net domestic migration was −137,586. Relative to population that was −6.9 per 1,000 residents, the lowest in the nation. With 203,078 births and 160,263 deaths, the population ended the year almost exactly where it started: 1,008 people more, a growth rate of 0.01% against 0.52%¹ nationally.

Where departing New Yorkers go

The Census Bureau's 2024 survey of movers counted 415,304 people (±18,639) who left New York for another state and 284,868 (±14,045) who arrived from one. The net loss of −130,436 (±23,339) was the 2nd lowest¹⁶ of any state. New Jersey, Florida and Pennsylvania received the most New Yorkers; before allowing for sampling error, the largest net losses were to Florida and New Jersey.

Moved to New York from

New Jersey36,002 ±5,753

California31,367 ±4,875

Florida28,080 ±4,963

Pennsylvania23,152 ±3,265

Massachusetts17,862 ±2,974

Texas16,324 ±3,888

Connecticut15,160 ±3,301

Virginia10,310 ±2,359

Left New York for

New Jersey56,799 ±8,244

Florida50,661 ±6,714

Pennsylvania29,274 ±4,078

Texas28,233 ±4,541

Connecticut25,095 ±4,459

California24,927 ±3,680

Massachusetts18,697 ±3,077

South Carolina18,324 ±5,214

Source: Census Bureau, State-to-State Migration Flows, 2024. People aged 1 and over who lived in another state a year earlier (and the reverse). Survey estimates: whiskers show the 90% margin of error.

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State	Moved in from	Moved out to
New Jersey	36,002 ±5,753	56,799 ±8,244
California	31,367 ±4,875	24,927 ±3,680
Florida	28,080 ±4,963	50,661 ±6,714
Pennsylvania	23,152 ±3,265	29,274 ±4,078
Massachusetts	17,862 ±2,974	18,697 ±3,077
Texas	16,324 ±3,888	28,233 ±4,541
Connecticut	15,160 ±3,301	25,095 ±4,459
Virginia	10,310 ±2,359	16,364 ±3,786
South Carolina	–	18,324 ±5,214

Tax returns tell the same story for 2022 to 2023: 426,397 people on returns moved out and 268,427 moved in, a net loss of −157,970, 2nd lowest among the states. The households that left reported $28.0 billion of adjusted gross income, against $18.1 billion¹⁷ for those who arrived.

Only 12.8% of residents were born in another US state, the lowest in the nation and 14.2 percentage points below the US figure (27.0%). Another 61.2%¹¹ were born in New York itself. Residents also move less often: 90.8% lived in the same home a year earlier, 2.4 percentage points above the US figure (88.4%)¹⁸.

Languages: Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Bengali and Yiddish

A language other than English is spoken at home by 32.1% of New Yorkers aged 5 and older, the 4th highest share. 13.7% speak English less than "very well", 2nd highest after California (16.8%¹⁹).

Spanish is the most common, with 2,867,192 speakers. What sets the state apart is the range behind it. New York has the largest number of speakers of any state for Russian (203,988), Bengali (176,838), Italian (105,219), Hebrew (74,202) and the West African languages Yoruba, Twi and Igbo (115,508), and for the group the Census Bureau labels Yiddish, Pennsylvania Dutch or other West Germanic languages (231,745). In that last group, 56.4%²⁰ of speakers speak English less than "very well". State rankings for these languages use the 2020–2024 survey.

Ancestry: Italian, Irish and Caribbean roots

Asked about their ancestry, 1,986,866 New Yorkers (9.9%) named Italian in 2025 and 1,955,652 (9.8%²¹) Irish. People can report more than one ancestry, so the groups overlap and do not add up to the population. On the 2020–2024 survey, New York had the largest Italian-ancestry population of any state (2,163,906), well ahead of Pennsylvania (1,381,650²²).

Below the large European groups the list turns to the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. New York has the most people of any state reporting Guyanese (122,515), Trinidadian and Tobagonian (69,167) and West Indian (66,642) ancestry, and also the most reporting Polish (664,532), Ukrainian (130,246), Greek (128,385) and Albanian (65,513) ancestry. It ranks second for Jamaican (294,761), Haitian (175,729) and Russian (244,296²¹) ancestry.

Catholic parishes, synagogues and mosques

The same immigrant history shows in New York's congregations. The U.S. Religion Census, which collects counts from religious bodies rather than asking residents, found the Catholic Church the largest by far in 2020: its parishes counted 6,191,464 people, 30.6% of the state and 10.0%²³ of the nation's Catholic total.

New York's synagogues counted 763,078 members, 3.78% of residents, the highest in the nation and 36.9% of the US total. Orthodox synagogues account for most of them (588,620), ahead of Reform (94,354) and Conservative (70,390) congregations. The 2020 mosque study estimated 724,475 people taking part in New York mosques, the most²³ number of any state. Both counts measure ties to a congregation and fall short of the full Jewish and Muslim populations, which the study does not estimate.

Evangelical Protestant churches are weak by national standards (5.2%, the 6th lowest share). Altogether 51.2% of New Yorkers were on a congregation's books, 2.6 percentage points above the US figure (48.6%)²³; the religion overview explains why that is not a measure of how religious people are.

Race and Hispanic origin in more detail

The shares at the top of this page show a state where non-Hispanic white residents are just over half. That share was down from 51.9% in 2024 in the American Community Survey, while the non-Hispanic Asian share was up from 9.4% in 2024 and the Hispanic share up from 20.2% in 2024². On the diversity index, which gives the percent chance that two New Yorkers picked at random differ in race or ethnicity, the state scores 67.4, the 8th most diverse state and more diverse than Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont; less diverse than New Jersey²⁴.

Hispanic New Yorkers come from different places than Hispanic Americans as a whole. On 2020–2024 data, people of Puerto Rican origin were 5.1% of the state's population (1.8% nationally), Dominican 4.6% (0.7%) and South American 3.5% (1.5%). Mexican origin, the largest group nationally at 11.3%, accounted for 2.6%²⁵ in New York.

Counting people who report Black alone or with another race, 17.3% of residents are Black, the highest in the Northeast and higher than every bordering state (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont)²⁶. Among Asian groups, the state has the 2nd largest Chinese population of any state (837,517), the largest Bangladeshi population (139,575²⁸) and the 2nd largest Pakistani and 2nd largest²⁷ Korean populations.

Density, transit and renting

With 424.5 people per square mile, New York is the 9th most densely populated²⁹ state, and 87.5% of residents lived in urban areas at the 2020 Census; 12.6% lived in rural areas, 7.4 percentage points below the US figure (20.0%)³⁰.

Daily life looks different from most of the country. 25.3% of workers took public transportation to work in 2025, the highest of any state (the District of Columbia is higher), against 3.8%³¹ nationally. 30.9% of households have no vehicle, 22.1 percentage points above the US figure (8.8%)³², and the average one-way commute, 33.5 minutes, is the 2nd longest³³ of any state. 26.0% of homes are in buildings with 20 or more units, 14.9 percentage points above the US figure (11.1%)³⁴, and only 54.0% of households own their home, the lowest of any state (the District of Columbia is lower)³⁵.

The widest income gap of any state

New York's Gini index of household income inequality, where 0 means every household has the same income and 1 means one household has all of it, was 0.519 in 2025 (±0.003), the highest in the country, just above the District of Columbia (0.515). Given the margins of error, its rank is between 1st and 2nd³⁶.

Both ends of the distribution are larger than nationally. 18.6% of households had income of $200,000 or more, 3.8 percentage points above the US figure (14.8%), and 15.7% had less than $25,000, 1.7 percentage points above the US figure (14.0%). The middle bands are thinner: 24.5% of households earned between $50,000 and $100,000, 3.3 percentage points below the US figure (27.8%)³⁷.

New YorkUnited States

Under $25,00015.7% 14.0%

$25,000–$49,99914.3% 15.4%

$50,000–$99,99924.5% 27.8%

$100,000–$199,99926.9% 28.0%

$200,000 or more18.6% 14.8%

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2025, table B19001. Share of households in each band of income in the past 12 months, in 2025 dollars.

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Household income	New York	MOE	United States
Under $25,000	15.7%	±0.3	14.0%
$25,000–$49,999	14.3%	±0.3	15.4%
$50,000–$99,999	24.5%	±0.3	27.8%
$100,000–$199,999	26.9%	±0.4	28.0%
$200,000 or more	18.6%	±0.3	14.8%

At the top, tax data show 71,680 returns reporting $1 million or more of income in 2023, the 3rd most of any state; those returns held 24.2% of all income reported in the state, 7.6 percentage points above the US figure (16.6%)³⁸. Output per resident is also high: gross domestic product per capita was $123,273 in 2025, the highest of any state (the District of Columbia is higher)³⁹.

The median household income, $89,210 (±$934), is $4,430 (5%) above the US figure ($84,780) but higher than Pennsylvania and Vermont; lower than Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey; not statistically different from Rhode Island⁴. Prices are higher too: the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts the state's 2024 price level at 107.9 (US = 100), the 5th most expensive⁴⁰ state.

Poverty is more common than in any neighboring state. The official rate was 13.8% (±0.3 percentage points), 2.0 percentage points above the US figure (11.8%) and higher than every bordering state (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont). Older residents stand out: 14.1% of people 65 and older were poor, 2.9 percentage points above the US figure (11.2%), a rate whose rank among the states is between 3rd and 6th⁵. The Supplemental Poverty Measure, which counts benefits and taxes and adjusts for local housing costs, puts the state at 15.1% on average over 2023 to 2025, against 10.9%⁴¹ on the official measure from the same survey.

Housing costs and homelessness

The median value of an owner-occupied home was $470,900 in 2025, $99,800 (27%) above the US figure ($371,100)⁴², and 14.6%⁴³ of owned homes were worth $1 million or more. Median gross rent was $1,704, $147 (9%) above the US figure ($1,557)⁴⁴.

On one night in January 2025, the federal point-in-time count found 145,560 people experiencing homelessness in New York, the 2nd most of any state. That is 72.8 per 10,000 residents, the highest of any state (the District of Columbia is higher). The count is unusual in two ways: 84,923 of those people were in families with children, and only 4.0% were unsheltered, against 35.7% nationally; the rest were in shelters, transitional housing or safe havens. The total was down from 158,019 a year earlier (−7.9%⁴⁵).

Age, households and health

New York's median age is 39.8 years, the youngest in the Northeast and younger than every bordering state (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont)³. The age mix is changing. The state had 3,905,391 residents under 18 in 2025, down from 4,137,105 in 2020, and 3,860,551 aged 65 and older, up from 3,383,338 in 2020⁴⁶.

MenWomenUnited States

MenWomen

85+

80–84

75–79

70–74

65–69

60–64

55–59

50–54

45–49

40–44

35–39

30–34

25–29

20–24

15–19

10–14

5–9

0–4

Source: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025. Share of the total population in each age group. Vertical ticks: the United States.

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Age	Men (%)	Women (%)	US men (%)	US women (%)
0-4	2.67	2.55	2.76	2.65
5-9	2.71	2.60	2.96	2.83
10-14	2.81	2.68	3.08	2.95
15-19	3.12	2.98	3.31	3.16
20-24	3.31	3.28	3.43	3.28
25-29	3.67	3.77	3.46	3.37
30-34	3.60	3.64	3.41	3.38
35-39	3.43	3.48	3.38	3.40
40-44	3.09	3.22	3.21	3.27
45-49	2.81	3.00	2.93	3.03
50-54	2.75	2.98	2.83	2.96
55-59	2.93	3.22	2.86	3.02
60-64	3.04	3.37	2.96	3.21
65-69	2.76	3.14	2.75	3.08
70-74	2.22	2.64	2.26	2.64
75-79	1.65	2.12	1.71	2.08
80-84	0.97	1.40	1.00	1.32
85+	0.85	1.54	0.78	1.28

39.8% of people 15 and older have never married, the highest of any state (the District of Columbia is higher)⁴⁷. Veterans make up 3.3% of civilian adults, the lowest⁴⁸ share of any state.

Adults are more educated than average: 42.0% of those aged 25 and older hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 4.6 percentage points above the US figure (37.4%), and 18.7%⁴⁹ hold a graduate or professional degree. Life expectancy at birth was 79.5 years in 2022, the 4th longest⁵⁰ of any state, and 4.7% of residents had no health insurance in 2025, 3.7 percentage points below the US figure (8.4%)⁵¹.