It’s crazy to think that five years ago today, NYC seemed like a complete different world. When you think back on it, you can remember the empty streets as people remained crammed within their tiny NYC apartments. Fortunately, NYC is ever resilient and managed to rebuild. As a result, NYC’s metro area population is finally returning to to pre-pandemic levels.
To paint a better picture, in the first year of the pandemic, from April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021, 365,336 people left New York State. NYC alone lost around 336,677 people in that total. Each borough declined in population, with Manhattan seeing the greatest drop of -6.9%.
As time went on, NYC lost around 6% of its total population in three years, between 2020 and 2023, according to census data.
Yet, due to consistent efforts from the city and its many communities, NYC gained 87,000 New Yorkers between July 2023 and July 2024. Mayor Eric Adams noted that this marks two consecutive years of population growth for the city. He said:
The numbers do not lie. Our city’s best days still lie ahead of us…Jobs are at their highest levels in city history, crime is down across the five boroughs, and people are coming back to the greatest city on the globe. New York City has emerged from the darkest days of the pandemic and continues to take leaps towards a brighter future. Believe the hype: New York City is back.
Today’s metro population, observed last summer, hovers around 19.9 million. This includes NYC, Downstate New York, Northern and Central New Jersey, and possibly Western Connecticut counties, and even Eastern Pennsylvania counties. Prior to the pandemic, the population stood just over 20 million.
U.S. census data shows a nationwide surge in population of 3.2 million people across metro areas between 2023 and 2024. If the NYC metro area’s population continues on this track, it’s plausible we could soon see above pre-pandemic numbers.
However, it’s harrowing how increasing populations may affect NYC’s housing market, with Manhattan rental prices at an all-time high, alongside low vacancy rates.