Queens County, NY

County Profile

2,323,052 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Queens County, NY.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 17% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 18% of 1,463 counties measured72
SchoolsTop 7% of 1,377 counties measured84
GrowthTop 27% of 1,453 counties measured63
Housing affordability1,437th of 1,462 counties measured38
ClimateTop 40% of 1,463 counties measured71
Physical resilienceTop 31% of 1,463 counties measured73
AccessTop 3% of 1,463 counties measured99
Economic stabilityTop 45% of 1,463 counties measured64
The quick read

Queens County ranks in the top 18% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.0% and median household income of $86,136.

Public schools test above most of the state: 65% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 7% of published profiles for schools.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most counties measured: rent takes 32% of renter income and the median home is 6.7 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
2,323,052
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$86,136
Top 12% nationally
Density
21,367/sq mi
108.7 sq mi of land
Median age
40.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Queens County
New York
Nearest major airport
JFK
3 mi · John F Kennedy Intl
Median home value
$723,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0%, lower than in 53% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 1,159,254 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $86,136 is higher than in 88% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$68,69571st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$78,58986th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$8752024 ACS 5-Year$86,136Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5522024 ACS 5-Year$42,146Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$60,307Top 36%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year12.7%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year46.7 minBottom 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year36.1%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year31.4%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 20261,159,254Top 1%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.6%Top 20%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 20261,207,34299th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year80.2%Top 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year41.4%99th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.3%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.0%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.9%80th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/07104.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202486k76k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $86,136 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides644,700$39,680
Retail Salespersons202,080$38,280
Registered Nurses197,740$119,720
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners183,030$42,840
General and Operations Managers177,850$157,000
Cashiers173,830$35,950

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

65% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 66% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.7 students for every full-time teacher across 377 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
388
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.7
across 377 of them
Math proficiency
65.0%
Top 18% in New York
Reading proficiency
65.8%
Top 11% in New York
The 12 largest of 388 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Francis Lewis High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #264,57318.6100%96%
Forest Hills High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #283,39415.494%96%
Bayside High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #263,00416.096%96%
Benjamin N Cardozo High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #262,86614.996%97%
John Bowne High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #252,77813.687%91%
John Adams High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #272,40013.391%93%
Hillcrest High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #282,29814.190%93%
Thomas a Edison Career and Technical Education High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #282,14615.496%98%
Is 61 Leonardo Da VinciNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #242,13112.524%31%
Newtown High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #242,07214.389%89%
William Cullen Bryant High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #301,99612.686%90%
Aviation Career and Technical Education High SchoolNEW YORK CITY GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT #241,92413.498%98%

76.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New York’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 112.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division is up 45% over five years, and up 5.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $6,297 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.87% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,910, some 49% above the $1,956 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,910 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $116,400 a year, about 135% of the median household income here of $86,136.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,956 a month.

A median home at $723,800 costs 6.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $108,491, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
112.6

Prices here run about 13% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.6%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,910
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,956
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$723,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Queens County’s median household income of $86,136, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2023112.6Bottom 4%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+5.7%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+45.1%51st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+81.4%30th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year6.7Bottom 1%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year44.9%1st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3112024 ACS 5-Year910,20699th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$2,655Bottom 1%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$3,644Bottom 2%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,910Bottom 1%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$102024 ACS 5-Year$1,956Bottom 2%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,6062024 ACS 5-Year$723,80099th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$482024 ACS 5-Year$6,29798th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,3412024 ACS 5-Year$108,491Top 9%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.01%2024 ACS 5-Year0.87%56th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year31.6%Bottom 17%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±9352024 ACS 5-Year10,32998th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%28th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2,2152024 ACS 5-Year69,20399th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

63/ 100
Top 27% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 3% since 2020, to 2,316,841 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 3,395 units authorized in 2025, 36% below the prior year.

94% of the 7,265 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Queens County lost about 2.2% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $68,695, below the $78,589 of households that moved out.

At 3.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
7,265
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.1
Top 46% nationally
Year over year
+145%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
93.6%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

202020212022202320242390k2286k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−2.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
33%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$68,695
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$78,589
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Kings County, NY 19,144 people · 27% of arrivals
  2. New York County, NY 9,047 people · 13% of arrivals
  3. Nassau County, NY 7,425 people · 10% of arrivals
  4. Bronx County, NY 4,634 people · 6.5% of arrivals
  5. Suffolk County, NY 2,716 people · 3.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Nassau County, NY 20,494 people · 18% of departures
  2. Kings County, NY 12,509 people · 11% of departures
  3. Suffolk County, NY 7,422 people · 6.6% of departures
  4. New York County, NY 5,666 people · 5.1% of departures
  5. Bronx County, NY 3,638 people · 3.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420256k2k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−42%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 26°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.3 inches, including 25.9 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 45, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW YORK JFK INTL AP, 4.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year682024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals43.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals25.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals26°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year452024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
45
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
68
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

73 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, heat wave and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 49% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, cold wave, strong wind, heat wave, inland flooding, lightning, hail, ice storm, tornado, landslide, wildfire, drought, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Queens County records 2.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.9 per 100,000 residents in Queens County.

Homicide
2.6
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
1.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
11.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
6.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Queens County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest John F Kennedy Intl at 3 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year92.3%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle3 miTop 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year6.2%Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
John F Kennedy IntlJFK3 mi14,511 ft
Newark Liberty IntlEWR17 mi9,999 ft
New York Stewart IntlSWF60 mi11,817 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
69
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated September 26, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.