Air Conditioning Access in New York City
Summary
- According to U.S. Census estimates, 8% to 10% of NYC households lack air conditioning.
- The highest no-AC shares are concentrated in a small set of neighborhoods, where more than 15% of households lack AC.
- If all renter households had access to AC, as envisioned by a New York City Council law scheduled to take effect in 2030, about 2% of NYC households would lack AC.
As New York City faces its first major heat wave of the summer, two U.S. Census datasets estimate that 8% to 10% of NYC households lack air conditioning.1
Lack of AC is especially concentrated in several Bronx neighborhoods, where more than 15% of households are estimated to lack AC. But lack of air conditioning is not limited to lower-income neighborhoods: even wealthier Manhattan areas such as the West Village and Upper East Side have an estimated 4% to 5% of households without air conditioning.
A map of AC access by neighborhood is below, with a corresponding table at the end of this article. Council district estimates are also available in the Civic Data Atlas district comparison tool.
Older adults are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat, so AC access among households with senior residents is especially important. Older adults are more likely to have a medical condition or take medication that interferes with the body’s ability to regulate heat. However, survey data show that NYC households with senior residents are no more likely to have AC than households where everyone is under age 65.
In response to increasingly dangerous summer heat, the New York City Council passed a law mandating that landlords provide AC units to renters starting in 2030. Currently, renter households are significantly less likely to have access to AC than owner-occupied households. If all renter households had AC, overall AC access in NYC would increase from 90.1% to 97.8%.2
All Neighborhoods
| Allerton | 81.5% |
| Annadale-Huguenot-Prince’s Bay-Woodrow | 99.2% |
| Arden Heights-Rossville | 99.1% |
| Astoria (Central) | 92.7% |
| Astoria (East)-Woodside (North) | 88.9% |
| Astoria (North)-Ditmars-Steinway | 90.9% |
| Auburndale | 95.1% |
| Baisley Park | 96.4% |
| Bath Beach | 90.1% |
| Bay Ridge | 89.0% |
| Bay Terrace-Clearview | 94.8% |
| Bayside | 96.3% |
| Bedford Park | 83.2% |
| Bedford-Stuyvesant (East) | 90.1% |
| Bedford-Stuyvesant (West) | 91.5% |
| Bellerose | 95.8% |
| Belmont | 82.5% |
| Bensonhurst | 86.5% |
| Borough Park | 87.5% |
| Breezy Point-Belle Harbor-Rockaway Park-Broad Channel | 92.2% |
| Brighton Beach | 86.8% |
| Brooklyn Heights | 94.1% |
| Brownsville | 87.4% |
| Bushwick (East) | 90.2% |
| Bushwick (West) | 93.3% |
| Cambria Heights | 96.8% |
| Canarsie | 91.5% |
| Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill-Gowanus-Red Hook | 94.9% |
| Castle Hill-Unionport | 89.9% |
| Chelsea-Hudson Yards | 96.4% |
| Chinatown-Two Bridges | 89.1% |
| Claremont Village-Claremont (East) | 85.8% |
| Clinton Hill | 93.5% |
| Co-op City | 95.5% |
| College Point | 93.5% |
| Concourse-Concourse Village | 85.5% |
| Coney Island-Sea Gate | 90.2% |
| Corona | 91.7% |
| Crotona Park East | 89.8% |
| Crown Heights (North) | 88.7% |
| Crown Heights (South) | 87.3% |
| Cypress Hills | 86.0% |
| Douglaston-Little Neck | 97.2% |
| Downtown Brooklyn-DUMBO-Boerum Hill | 96.8% |
| Dyker Heights | 87.8% |
| East Elmhurst | 90.6% |
| East Flatbush-Erasmus | 89.9% |
| East Flatbush-Farragut | 92.3% |
| East Flatbush-Remsen Village | 87.5% |
| East Flatbush-Rugby | 89.0% |
| East Flushing | 92.8% |
| East Harlem (North) | 91.0% |
| East Harlem (South) | 90.7% |
| East Midtown-Turtle Bay | 95.1% |
| East New York (North) | 90.7% |
| East New York-City Line | 89.9% |
| East New York-New Lots | 91.5% |
| East Village | 92.2% |
| East Williamsburg | 92.8% |
| Eastchester-Edenwald-Baychester | 89.1% |
| Elmhurst | 89.8% |
| Far Rockaway-Bayswater | 90.8% |
| Financial District-Battery Park City | 97.8% |
| Flatbush | 90.0% |
| Flatbush (West)-Ditmas Park-Parkville | 91.4% |
| Flatlands | 92.9% |
| Flushing-Willets Point | 91.4% |
| Fordham Heights | 82.1% |
| Forest Hills | 91.4% |
| Fort Greene | 93.2% |
| Fresh Meadows-Utopia | 93.5% |
| Glen Oaks-Floral Park-New Hyde Park | 95.8% |
| Glendale | 90.4% |
| Gramercy | 94.6% |
| Grasmere-Arrochar-South Beach-Dongan Hills | 94.2% |
| Gravesend (East)-Homecrest | 91.5% |
| Gravesend (South) | 91.6% |
| Gravesend (West) | 90.8% |
| Great Kills-Eltingville | 98.3% |
| Greenpoint | 96.2% |
| Greenwich Village | 95.1% |
| Hamilton Heights-Sugar Hill | 87.6% |
| Harlem (North) | 91.3% |
| Harlem (South) | 92.5% |
| Hell’s Kitchen | 94.3% |
| Highbridge | 84.7% |
| Hollis | 94.4% |
| Howard Beach-Lindenwood | 92.7% |
| Hunts Point | 85.6% |
| Inwood | 89.2% |
| Jackson Heights | 89.4% |
| Jamaica | 91.3% |
| Jamaica Estates-Holliswood | 94.0% |
| Jamaica Hills-Briarwood | 92.2% |
| Kensington | 90.7% |
| Kew Gardens | 91.3% |
| Kew Gardens Hills | 91.7% |
| Kingsbridge Heights-Van Cortlandt Village | 84.8% |
| Kingsbridge-Marble Hill | 87.1% |
| Laurelton | 97.9% |
| Long Island City-Hunters Point | 99.1% |
| Longwood | 88.7% |
| Lower East Side | 91.5% |
| Madison | 91.6% |
| Manhattanville-West Harlem | 85.6% |
| Mapleton-Midwood (West) | 89.0% |
| Marine Park-Mill Basin-Bergen Beach | 93.9% |
| Mariner’s Harbor-Arlington-Graniteville | 97.7% |
| Maspeth | 90.6% |
| Melrose | 89.0% |
| Middle Village | 90.5% |
| Midtown South-Flatiron-Union Square | 95.7% |
| Midtown-Times Square | 93.7% |
| Midwood | 89.4% |
| Morningside Heights | 90.8% |
| Morris Park | 88.7% |
| Morrisania | 89.0% |
| Mott Haven-Port Morris | 88.8% |
| Mount Eden-Claremont (West) | 86.0% |
| Mount Hope | 84.8% |
| Murray Hill-Broadway Flushing | 92.7% |
| Murray Hill-Kips Bay | 95.4% |
| New Dorp-Midland Beach | 95.5% |
| New Springville-Willowbrook-Bulls Head-Travis | 98.0% |
| North Corona | 90.2% |
| Norwood | 84.2% |
| Oakland Gardens-Hollis Hills | 94.9% |
| Oakwood-Richmondtown | 97.1% |
| Ocean Hill | 89.5% |
| Old Astoria-Hallets Point | 94.9% |
| Ozone Park | 92.3% |
| Ozone Park (North) | 92.7% |
| Park Slope | 94.9% |
| Parkchester | 86.2% |
| Pelham Bay-Country Club-City Island | 92.6% |
| Pelham Gardens | 90.3% |
| Pelham Parkway-Van Nest | 86.7% |
| Pomonok-Electchester-Hillcrest | 92.0% |
| Port Richmond | 95.7% |
| Prospect Heights | 94.4% |
| Prospect Lefferts Gardens-Wingate | 89.6% |
| Queens Village | 95.0% |
| Queensboro Hill | 93.2% |
| Queensbridge-Ravenswood-Dutch Kills | 92.7% |
| Rego Park | 90.8% |
| Richmond Hill | 91.1% |
| Ridgewood | 89.3% |
| Riverdale-Spuyten Duyvil | 94.0% |
| Rockaway Beach-Arverne-Edgemere | 90.1% |
| Rosebank-Shore Acres-Park Hill | 92.3% |
| Rosedale | 97.8% |
| Sheepshead Bay-Manhattan Beach-Gerritsen Beach | 91.4% |
| SoHo-Little Italy-Hudson Square | 92.7% |
| Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River | 86.7% |
| Soundview-Clason Point | 92.0% |
| South Jamaica | 94.6% |
| South Ozone Park | 95.0% |
| South Richmond Hill | 92.2% |
| South Williamsburg | 91.9% |
| Spring Creek-Starrett City | 92.9% |
| Springfield Gardens (North)-Rochdale Village | 97.2% |
| Springfield Gardens (South)-Brookville | 97.6% |
| St. Albans | 95.9% |
| St. George-New Brighton | 91.9% |
| Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village | 97.3% |
| Sunnyside | 88.7% |
| Sunset Park (Central) | 87.4% |
| Sunset Park (East)-Borough Park (West) | 86.4% |
| Sunset Park (West) | 89.8% |
| Throgs Neck-Schuylerville | 95.1% |
| Todt Hill-Emerson Hill-Lighthouse Hill-Manor Heights | 97.1% |
| Tompkinsville-Stapleton-Clifton-Fox Hills | 93.2% |
| Tottenville-Charleston | 98.7% |
| Tremont | 87.3% |
| Tribeca-Civic Center | 98.4% |
| University Heights (North)-Fordham | 84.5% |
| University Heights (South)-Morris Heights | 85.4% |
| Upper East Side-Carnegie Hill | 95.3% |
| Upper East Side-Lenox Hill-Roosevelt Island | 94.9% |
| Upper East Side-Yorkville | 94.3% |
| Upper West Side (Central) | 94.0% |
| Upper West Side-Lincoln Square | 95.0% |
| Upper West Side-Manhattan Valley | 90.6% |
| Wakefield-Woodlawn | 90.7% |
| Washington Heights (North) | 90.4% |
| Washington Heights (South) | 88.0% |
| West Farms | 86.8% |
| West New Brighton-Silver Lake-Grymes Hill | 95.3% |
| West Village | 95.2% |
| Westchester Square | 90.5% |
| Westerleigh-Castleton Corners | 97.1% |
| Whitestone-Beechhurst | 94.6% |
| Williamsbridge-Olinville | 87.3% |
| Williamsburg | 96.4% |
| Windsor Terrace-South Slope | 94.2% |
| Woodhaven | 90.7% |
| Woodside | 90.5% |
Footnotes
This analysis uses two Census datasets on air-conditioning access. We use the U.S. Census Local Air Conditioning Estimates (LACE) to compute neighborhood-level estimates, and the NYC Housing and Vacancy Survey (NYCHVS), administered by the U.S. Census Bureau, for demographic breakdowns of AC access. Overall, LACE estimates that 8.4% of NYC households lack AC, while the NYCHVS estimates that 9.8% of NYC households lack AC.↩︎
The renter AC mandate does not mean that 100% of renter households will have AC by the implementation date. The law requires tenants to affirmatively request AC, includes exemptions where installation would cause undue hardship, and broadly excludes NYCHA housing.↩︎