Popping out of the pandemic period, a national anti-NYC hate narrative has been steady and quite pronounced. I may see this hate in the social media comments about my observations on Florida’s property tax proposal. Wow. It jogged my memory of a luncheon I attended just a few months in the past, the place I struck up a dialog with an editor at a widely known tabloid who described their job as “overlaying any story that chronicles the exodus from New York Metropolis.” Clearly, as a reader right here, you already know I harbor a pro-NYC bias (backed by knowledge), so it was disheartening to listen to, particularly when there’s a lot good occurring proper now (Knicks in 5!).
Wall Avenue is not NYC’s one-trick pony
NYC received the lion’s share of latest finance jobs since 2019, seeing 19,000 extra versus Miami’s 3,000, however many of the Miami jobs came at NYC’s expense. The next chart, created by Aziz Sunderji for the FT, is spectacular. I subscribe to his Home Economics Substack, the place he creates a few of the finest charts within the financial area.
Most of us in the actual property area appear to underappreciate simply how massive the tech sector has develop into. There are extra NYC private-sector tech workers than on Wall Avenue, accounting for 9 p.c of NYC’s wages within the economic system, versus 20 p.c for Wall Avenue. Whereas Wall Avenue workers make 2.5 occasions the common tech sector wage, tech employees make 3.4 occasions the private sector average wage of $86,300. Each tech and Wall Avenue are important to the NYC economic system, and tech has been a nice high-wage addition over the previous decade.
How outdated are these NYC workers and the place do they work?
Finance is roughly 2.4 years older than tech and carries a meaningfully bigger 55+ tail. This displays deeper profession ladders and larger focus of seniority in Wealth Administration and Non-public Banking.
Tech runs youthful, with the youngest median age (41.2 years) and the most important inhabitants phase (28.2 p.c), the most important of any main trade for 25–34-year-olds. Tech:NYC’s 2025 Snapshot reviews that roughly 490,000 latest faculty graduates moved to NYC between 2021 and 2024, with tech because the main vacation spot, reducing the common age.
Partnership for NYC’s March 2025 RTO survey reveals 57 p.c of Manhattan workplace employees of their office on a mean weekday (76 p.c of pre-pandemic ranges), with Monetary Companies at 62 p.c. About 69 p.c of NYC employers preserve hybrid insurance policies, and 25 p.c plan to extend workplace necessities within the subsequent 12 months. NYC workplace visitation per Placer.ai data exceeded 2019 ranges by 1.3 p.c in July 2025, making it the primary main U.S. metropolis to see a rise after the pandemic.
Utilizing the NYC Comptroller’s knowledge, the outlook for high-wage office employment is rising.
Closing ideas
The “NYC decline” narrative seems more and more disconnected from actuality, as town’s economic system is just not shrinking however evolving right into a extra diversified, youthful and tech-driven combine alongside finance. Slightly than changing Wall Avenue, tech is reinforcing general high-wage job progress, whereas the rebound in workplace exercise reveals that the advantages of density nonetheless matter. For housing, this means continued demand, particularly amongst higher-income and youthful employees, supporting each rental and gross sales markets, which stay lively.
The precise remaining thought — Typically one of the best seats are the riskiest seats!
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