Manhattan Commuter Submarkets Add Massive Apartment Supply

In the past 10 years, some of the nation’s biggest apartment completion volumes were in Manhattan’s commuter submarkets.

The U.S. overall experienced record apartment deliveries in the past decade, with roughly 3.5 million units completed, according to data from RealPage Market Analytics. That volume increased the existing supply base by 21%.

Among the nation’s largest 150 apartment markets, there are 996 submarkets. Among those submarkets, 13 saw their inventories increase by more than 17,000 units in the past 10 years. For reference, the smallest of those 150 apartment markets, Fort Collins, CO, has a total existing stock of about 24,400 units.

Though several of the top submarkets on this list were in Texas, where apartment construction has been explosive in recent years, three of the nation’s top five neighborhoods for apartment deliveries in the past decade were commuter submarkets to Manhattan.

Overall, the New York apartment market is typically a development hotspot. In the past 10 years, however, New York dropped down to #6 for apartment completion volumes, beat out by South region markets (mostly in Texas) Dallas, Houston, Austin and Atlanta, and also by Washington, DC. New York logged the delivery of roughly 108,300 units between the end of 2014 and the end of 2024, and roughly one-third of that product was delivered in Brooklyn. Another 21% came online in Queens.

According to a report from the City of New York, more than 880,000 New York City residents commute from the other four boroughs into Manhattan, while another 540,000 workers commute from outside the city.

With the expansion of more flexible work-from-home and hybrid policies after the COVID-19 pandemic, commuters from a growing number of areas find savings opportunities by renting outside of Manhattan and commuting in less frequently.

In the past 10 years, New York’s Brooklyn neighborhood has added more apartment units than any other submarket nationwide. Roughly 35,890 units came online in Brooklyn between 2014 and 2024, increasing the existing unit count by 7.9%. For scope, there are nearly 500,000 units across Brooklyn, so even the addition of nearly 36,000 is a relatively mild inventory increase.

Apartment rents in Brooklyn as of February ran at about $4,710 monthly. That’s a savings of roughly $470 compared to Manhattan’s most affordable submarket, the Financial District, where rents were closer to $5,100. On the other end of the spectrum, prices in the Lower East Side were the most expensive in Manhattan, at $6,100.

New York’s Queens submarket saw the delivery of 22,960 units in the past 10 years, increasing the existing product base 8.8%. Queens rents were a bit behind Brooklyn’s at $3,700 units, meaning they provide a $1,500 savings over the most affordable Manhattan rents.

Brooklyn and Queens are across the East River, only about eight miles each from Manhattan. But if you’ve ever been stuck in New York City traffic, you know that drive can take about an hour. Most commuters take the train in, which can be about 45 minutes from each location. On the other side of the island, coming across the Hudson River from Jersey City, the commute time could be even shorter using the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), which is the nation’s fifth most-traveled rapid transit system, after the New York City Subway, Washington Metro, Chicago “L” and Boston’s MBTA.

Jersey City saw the nation’s second largest volume of completions during the past 10 years, with about 27,800 units increasing the existing base by 52.2%. Jersey City rents as of February were about in line with Queens rents at about $3,700 monthly, providing at least a $1,500 savings over Manhattan .

Another commuter submarket that is a little further out, Center City Philadelphia also saw one of the nation’s biggest completion volumes in the past 10 years. Deliveries of nearly 17,400 units increased the existing stock by 52.2%. It’s about a two-hour drive from Center City Philadelphia to Manhattan, so there are likely not as many commuters to the Big Apple, but those who do choose to make the commute can save about $2,600 monthly on rents compared to the Financial District, and about $3,600 compared to the Lower East Side.