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For the first time in about 20 years, the editors of New York Magazine surveyed a chunk of New Yorkers to find out what kind of work they do and how much they make doing it. While the results were disappointing, they certainly weren’t surprising.

The salaries ran the gamut from a newsstand owner barely getting by on $4,000 a year to a consultant who made $17 million last year through a combination of actual consulting work and investments. These numbers prove that not everyone in New York is hurting, but one of the most unaffordable cities to live in is definitely taking a toll on many, especially those who are doing some of the most important work.

Many New Yorkers’ incomes sound pretty great on paper, but they aren’t enough for where they live.

Data from the World Population Review showed that New York has the second-highest cost of living in the United States. For a typical family of four, the living wage is a whopping $110,255. For an average American family, it’s just $61,334, so a dollar definitely doesn’t stretch as far in the Big Apple.

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This underscores the fact that these New Yorkers are struggling, even if it seems hard to believe. For example, a doorman from the Upper East Side reported making $75,000 a year, which would sound great to many people, but isn’t feasible by New York’s standards.

Meanwhile, an art dealer at a downtown gallery made $170,000. That should be enough to luxuriate in, but the dealer said their industry is still reeling from the impacts of a recent crash.

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People were particularly disheartened to find that salaries don’t seem to align with the kind of work that should be valued.

New York Magazine shared a look at their findings on Instagram, where people had free rein to make their opinions known. Many of the comments highlighted the disparity between salaries for the people they thought deserved to be making the big bucks versus those who actually were.

“The daycare worker upsets me so much,” one person said. “The people caring for kids should be paid what the consultant makes.” Another noted, “Incredible how there’s an almost negative correlation between salary and how much you contribute to society.”

While one could argue that the contributions a person makes to society are more of an objective, nuance matters; there’s no question that people in some of the occupations considered a bit more necessary were making less money. The daycare worker in question reported an income of just $31,000, not enough to survive on anywhere in the U.S. Similarly, a home health aide said they earned $23,000.

Interestingly, a fashion Substacker (which is apparently a thing now) said they brought in $275,300. The majority of that came from brand partnerships, but a sizable amount was still tied to their actual Substack subscriptions.

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In most cases, wages aren’t keeping up with inflation anywhere.

An August 2025 CBS report revealed that just 54% of Americans are happy with how much money they’re making. This means the country is pretty much split down the middle in terms of whether they think their income is enough. Additionally, inflation remains a major issue, with most workers earning 1.2% less than the rate of inflation.

Elena Shishkina | Shutterstock

Those Instagram commenters so concerned about how people in valuable occupations are being compensated will be disappointed to hear that education is the industry in which wages are having the hardest time keeping up with inflation.

New York is, of course, not representative of the entire country. But the trend of Americans struggling to make ends meet and finding that their paycheck just doesn’t cover their necessary expenses is not unique to one location. These results show us a microcosm of what is happening in New York, but they likely spell trouble for the rest of the U.S. as well.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.