The poverty line in New York City has two answers. The federal poverty guideline, which most benefit programs use to decide who qualifies, sets the 2026 threshold at $15,960 for one person and $33,000 for a family of four. The city’s own measure, the NYCgov Poverty Measure, put the four-person threshold at $44,297 in 2022, roughly a third higher, because it accounts for the real cost of housing and other necessities here.
Which number matters depends on why you’re asking. If you’re checking eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP, or heating assistance, the federal figure is the one that counts. If you’re trying to understand how many New Yorkers are actually struggling, the local measure is more honest.
2026 Federal Poverty Guidelines
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services updates these numbers every January using the Consumer Price Index. They apply uniformly across the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C., with no adjustment for local costs. For 2026:
- 1 person: $15,960
- 2 people: $21,640
- 3 people: $27,320
- 4 people: $33,000
- 5 people: $38,680
- 6 people: $44,360
- 7 people: $50,040
- 8 people: $55,720
For households larger than eight, add $5,680 for each additional person.1Federal Register. Annual Update of the HHS Poverty Guidelines Program eligibility is often set as a percentage of these figures rather than at 100% of the line itself, so a household well above the poverty guideline can still qualify for help.
The City’s Own Threshold
The NYCgov Poverty Measure is produced by the Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity and mandated by the New York City Charter.2NYC.gov. Poverty Measure – NYC Opportunity It exists because the federal formula, built in the 1960s on a minimum food budget multiplied by three, ignores the two things that most define hardship in New York: housing costs and regional prices.
The local measure reworks both sides of the equation. On the income side, it counts non-cash benefits that genuinely help families meet basic needs: SNAP, WIC, school meals, and housing subsidies all register as resources, as do refundable tax credits like the federal Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit.3City of New York. MOE 2022 Poverty Measure Comprehensive Brief Those credits can be substantial in New York: the state adds 30% on top of the federal EITC, and the city layers on an additional credit of 10% to 30% of the federal amount.4Internal Revenue Service. States and Local Governments With Earned Income Tax Credit
On the expense side, the measure subtracts out-of-pocket medical costs and work-related expenses like childcare and commuting.3City of New York. MOE 2022 Poverty Measure Comprehensive Brief Someone earning $50,000 but paying $8,000 a year for childcare and $3,000 for a MetroCard has less disposable income than the gross figure suggests, and the local measure captures that.
The result is a threshold noticeably higher than the federal line. Where the 2026 federal guideline for a family of four is $33,000, the NYCgov threshold for the same household was $44,297 in 2022, the most recent year published.3City of New York. MOE 2022 Poverty Measure Comprehensive Brief Keep in mind that the NYCgov figure is analytical. It shapes policy discussions, not eligibility decisions.
Program Eligibility by Income
Assistance programs in New York almost universally use the federal poverty guidelines, expressed as a percentage of the FPL, to decide who qualifies.
Medicaid and the Essential Plan
New York expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, covering adults with incomes up to 138% of the FPL. For a single adult in 2026, that comes to roughly $22,024 per year. The 138% figure reflects a statutory threshold of 133% plus a mandatory 5-percentage-point income disregard.5MACPAC. Eligibility Above that, New York offers the Essential Plan for adults with incomes between 138% and 250% of the FPL, which covers a large slice of moderate-income residents who would otherwise face unaffordable premiums.
SNAP
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program sets its gross income limit at 130% of the FPL. For fiscal year 2026 (October 2025 through September 2026), that means a gross monthly income cap of $1,696 for one person and $3,483 for a family of four.6USDA Food and Nutrition Service. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Income Eligibility Standards Households must also meet a net income test after allowable deductions for shelter, dependent care, and other costs.
HEAP
The Home Energy Assistance Program helps low-income households cover heating and cooling bills. For the 2025–2026 program year, a single-person household qualifies with gross monthly income at or below $3,473, and a four-person household at or below $6,680.7New York State OTDA. Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) A Tier 1 add-on benefit uses a stricter cutoff set at 130% of the federal poverty level.
Section 8 Housing Vouchers
Housing Choice Vouchers work off a different benchmark: Area Median Income, not the federal poverty line. Eligibility generally caps at 50% of AMI (very low income), and federal law requires that at least 75% of new vouchers go to extremely low income households, meaning income at or below 30% of AMI or the federal poverty guideline, whichever is greater.8HUD User. Methodology for Determining FY 2025 Section 8 Income Limits Because New York’s AMI is high, the dollar cutoffs for voucher eligibility often exceed what the poverty line alone would suggest.
Near Poverty and the Benefit Cliff
The poverty line isn’t a switch that flips between hardship and comfort. Under the NYCgov measure, 22.5% of city residents in 2022 fell into the “near poverty” range, with household resources between 100% and 150% of the threshold.3City of New York. MOE 2022 Poverty Measure Comprehensive Brief Add that to the 20.5% in poverty and roughly 43% of New Yorkers were either poor or close to it.
For households near an eligibility cutoff, a raise or extra shifts can trigger a benefit cliff. A modest income increase pushes the family past a program’s income limit, and the value of the lost benefits exceeds the added earnings. Crossing the SNAP limit can cost a household several hundred dollars a month in food assistance. Different programs phase out at different levels and different rates, so the effective penalty for earning more is uneven and hard to predict.
Poverty Rates Across the Five Boroughs
Under the NYCgov measure, the citywide poverty rate was 20.5% in 2022, up sharply from 14.5% in 2021. The 2021 figure was held down by pandemic-era federal relief, including expanded tax credits and stimulus payments; when those programs ended and costs rose, the rate climbed past the pre-pandemic 2019 level of 18.7%.3City of New York. MOE 2022 Poverty Measure Comprehensive Brief
Poverty is not spread evenly. Borough rates for 2022:
- Bronx: 26.4%
- Brooklyn: 23.0%
- Queens: 18.5%
- Staten Island: 15.6%
- Manhattan: 15.3%
The Bronx has consistently reported the highest poverty rate of any borough, roughly 11 percentage points above Manhattan.3City of New York. MOE 2022 Poverty Measure Comprehensive Brief The federal official poverty rate for the city in 2022 was about 16.2%, 4.3 percentage points below the NYCgov figure, a gap that shows how much hardship the federal measure misses in a high-cost place.