THE INVISIBLE ENGINE: 2019 Economic Impact of New York City’s Real Estate Industry
January 2, 2020
NEW YORK CITY REAL ESTATE RELATED TAXES FY 2019: CONTRIBUTION TO TOTAL CITY TAX REVENUE
ANNUAL TAXES FROM REAL ESTATE RELATED TAXES1
- Real Estate related taxes (real property, commercial rent, hotel occupancy, mortgage recording, and transfer) accounted for $31.9 billion in New York City.
- 53% of all New York City taxes collected were real estate related.
- Real estate related tax contributions increases, as a share of the total taxes of the City, by 6% from 2009 to 2019.
- Real estate related taxes could pay for the City’s entire share of salaries for all 300,731 positions of full-time city employees, which is $29.03 billion for FY 2019.


Fiscal Year: | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
Real Property Tax | $28 | $26 | $24.2 | $22.6 | $21.1 | $19.8 | $18.6 | $17.9 | $17.0 | $16.2 | $14.8 | $13.1 |
Mortgage Recording | $1.0 | $0.9 | $1.1 | $1.5 | $0.9 | $0.8 | $0.6 | $0.5 | $0.4 | $0.4 | $0.8 | $1.1 |
Hotel Room Occupancy | $0.6 | $0.6 | $0.5 | $0.5 | $0.5 | $0.5 | $0.5 | $0.4 | $0.4 | $0.4 | $0.4 | $0.4 |
Commercial Rent | $0.9 | $0.8 | $0.8 | $0.8 | $0.7 | $0.7 | $0.7 | $0.6 | $0.6 | $0.6 | $0.6 | $0.6 |
Transfer | $1.4 | $1.4 | $1.5 | $1.5 | $1.4 | $1.3 | $0.9 | $0.9 | $0.7 | $0.6 | $1.0 | $1.3 |
Real Estate Tax Total | $31.9 | $29.7 | $28.1 | $26.9 | $24.6 | $23.1 | $21.3 | $20.3 | $19.4 | $18.2 | $17.6 | $16.5 |
Sales and Use Taxes | $7.8 | $7.3 | $7.1 | $7.0 | $6.7 | $6.4 | $6.1 | $5.9 | $5.3 | $4.8 | $4.8 | $4.6 |
Personal Income | $12.6 | $11.8 | $11.5 | $11.4 | $10.1 | $8.9 | $9.1 | $8.6 | $8.1 | $7.0 | $8.5 | $8.5 |
Corporate Income | $5.9 | $5.8 | $5.9 | $6.0 | $6.0 | $5.8 | $5.6 | $5.7 | $5.0 | $4.4 | $4.7 | $5.4 |
Other Taxes | $2.2 | $2.0 | $1.8 | $1.7 | $1.8 | $1.7 | $1.8 | $1.6 | $1.6 | $1.7 | $1.6 | $1.5 |
Non-Real Estate Tax Total | $28.5 | $26.9 | $26.3 | $26.1 | $24.6 | $22.8 | $22.6 | $21.8 | $20.0 | $17.9 | $19.6 | $20.0 |
Total Taxes | $60.4 | $56.6 | $54.5 | $52.5 | $49.4 | $45.8 | $43.8 | $42.1 | $39.0 | $36.0 | $37.1 | $36.5 |
Real Estate % of Total | 52.8% | 52.5% | 51.6% | 51.2% | 49.8% | 50.4% | 48.6% | 48.2% | 49.0% | 50.6% | 47.4% | 45.2% |
1 SOURCE: NYC Comptroller - The State of the City’s Economy and Finances