The Residents Funds Fee printed a revealing survey Wednesday displaying low scores amongst New Yorkers relating to high quality of life, emotions of security, authorities companies, public spending, and neighborhood satisfaction.
The “Straight from New Yorkers” survey of 1,750 New York Metropolis residents paints a bleak image of resident satisfaction with post-pandemic NYC, extending a pattern of low confidence with authorities for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic struck town in 2020. Nonetheless, the survey reveals a slight uptick in resident satisfaction and emotions of security when in comparison with the identical survey’s ends in 2023.
“This is a wake up call that things are not where they need to be in New York,” stated CBC President Andrew Rein. “New Yorkers are telling their leadership to focus on these priorities, and we need to do better if we’re going to keep and attract residents and businesses.”
CBC is 93 years previous and goals to “achieve constructive change in the finances and services of New York City and New York State government,” its mission assertion reads.
With the mayor’s race approaching, the survey experiences a persisting “widespread dissatisfaction” with residing circumstances, the financial system, and public infrastructure among the many majority of New Yorkers. Listed below are the survey’s fundamental takeaways.
High quality of life stays low
Roughly 34 p.c of surveyed New Yorkers rated their high quality of life as “excellent” or “good,” in response to the survey, marking a 17 share level drop in that space in comparison with the identical query in 2017, when 51 p.c of respondents reported their high quality of life as “excellent” or “good.” In 2023, the final time this survey was performed, this metric stood at 30 p.c.
One in 4 respondents rated their high quality of life in New York as “poor,” the survey reported.
Notably, respondents throughout all revenue ranges reported general comparable satisfaction with high quality of life, with variation between, decrease, center, and higher class inside just a few share factors. The least happy group of respondents was these making an revenue of $35,000 to $50,000, 29 p.c of whom reported “excellent” or “good” high quality of life. Of these reporting an annual revenue of $0 to $35,000, 35 p.c reported “excellent” or “good” high quality of life — the identical p.c of these making over $200,000 yearly who reported likewise.
“What we see across the income spectrum is that New Yorkers are dissatisfied with quality of life, and their satisfaction is far below what it was in 2017,” Rein stated. “You can see it across the board.”
These incomes $50,000 to $100,000 reported barely increased than different financial teams for high quality of life, with 36 p.c reporting “excellent” or “good.” Thirty-two p.c of these incomes $100,000 to $200,000 yearly reported the identical. Wealthier New Yorkers reported worse high quality of life within the 2025 survey than the 2023 survey, whereas lower-income New Yorkers reported increased high quality of life in comparison with 2023 general.
“Higher-earning New Yorkers’ ratings have continued to slide recently, whereas in prior versions, higher-income New Yorkers felt better about the quality of life in the city,” Rein stated. “That is no longer the case.”
Although the vast majority of respondents from every of the survey’s designated financial, racial, and ethnic demographic teams got here in at lower than 50 p.c satisfaction with high quality of life, Hispanic, Black, and Asian respondents general rated their high quality of life decrease than white New Yorkers. Whereas 40 p.c of white respondents reported “excellent” or “good” high quality of life, 28 p.c of Hispanic respondents, 31 p.c of Black respondents, and 33 p.c of Asian respondents reported the identical.
Respondents from Manhattan reported being most happy with high quality of life general, with 47 p.c of responding Manhattanites score their high quality of life as “excellent” or “good.” In distinction, solely 24 p.c of Bronx respondents reported the identical. Outcomes from Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island got here in at 31 p.c, 33 p.c, and 33 p.c, respectively.
Emotions of security climb, however stay decrease than pre-pandemic experiences
General, survey respondents reported feeling secure within the metropolis and of their neighborhoods at the next fee than they did in 2023. A spike in crime charges throughout the pandemic contributed to those security considerations, and although crime charges have since dropped considerably, emotions of unease persist, in response to the survey’s outcomes, particularly for Black and Hispanic New Yorkers and residents of the Bronx.
Of respondents, 42 p.c rated public security of their neighborhood as “excellent” or “good,” a rise from 37 p.c in 2023 however a lower from 50 p.c in 2017.
“People’s fear has not subsided, and they are not feeling as safe, whether it be on the subway or in their neighborhood, as they were in 2017, so we need to keep the momentum going so that New Yorkers feel safe,” Rein stated.
Whereas the 2023 CBC survey dissected outcomes for NYC’s 59 group boards, this yr’s survey centered solely on town as a complete and its 5 boroughs, in response to Rein, to be able to direct extra sources to borough- and city-specific statistics.
In stark distinction to 2017, when 82 p.c of surveyed New Yorkers reported feeling secure on the subway, that very same response is now right down to 51 p.c of surveyed New Yorkers — a two p.c improve from 2023. Solely 22 p.c of respondents within the 2025 survey reported feeling secure on the subway at evening — the identical as 2023 — in comparison with 46 p.c in 2017.
In CBC’s surveys and interfacing with New Yorkers, Rein stated, security continues to stay the highest situation for many. Likewise, it stays a central focus for native leaders.
“We know that that’s a priority for people, and we know that the current leadership and those who want to be leaders in the city have all placed a high priority,” Rein stated. “That’s good.”
General dissatisfaction with metropolis authorities and public companies
New Yorkers continued to report robust dissatisfaction with metropolis management and public companies in CBC’s 2025 survey, persevering with a post-pandemic pattern. Even earlier than the pandemic, in 2017, solely 44 p.c of surveyed residents rated general authorities companies as “excellent” or “good.” Now, that statistic sits at 27 p.c regardless of small enhancements since 2023 in some areas, like public schooling.
Respondents general lacked confidence within the metropolis’s emergency preparedness, capability to guard residents from terrorism, and financial progress. Solely 12 p.c of 2025 respondents stated they thought town spends cash correctly, and simply 10 p.c had confidence that town was adequately addressing New Yorkers’ housing wants.
With New Yorkers reporting strikingly low ranges of confidence in metropolis management, Rein stated that native leaders ought to tune into what their constituents are asking for and suppose in a different way about authorities spending, security, and public packages. He additionally inspired town to take up the duty of manufacturing the survey — although he’s proud that the CBC can provide the service, it ought to be the federal government’s accountability, he stated.
“I think the city should take it on and do it regularly at the community board level without question,” Rein stated. “I would love them to do it at the community board level every few years, and then at the city-wide level, even more often.”
