Astoria crowned hottest neighborhood for NYC rental hunters

RentHop’s ranking looks at top neighborhood search queries from New Yorkers
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Greenpoint broke into the top 15
Greenwich Village, West Village, and Chelsea fell as renters seek cheaper areas

By Jennifer White Karp | June 6, 2023 - 4:30PM

Astoria is the hottest neighborhood in New York City for renters on the hunt according to a new report.

RentHop, the rental listings site, analyzed millions of search queries by New Yorkers over the past three months for its latest look at the 50 most in-demand nabes for renters. Astoria jumped from ninth place to take the lead this year, followed by the Upper East Side in second place and the East Village in third.

The North Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Greenpoint broke into the top 15, thanks to a new spike in searches, the report found. Bed-Stuy is now the four-most searched neighborhood on RentHop, Williamsburg is sixth, Bushwick is seventh, and Greenpoint took 14th.

Other findings from the report

Long Island City jumped six spots to take 18th most popular neighborhood.
Washington Heights increased eight places to take 20th, beating Soho and Tribeca.
West Harlem is in 34th place, up 12 spots from last year’s ranking.
Dumbo moved up 5 spots to 37th, beating Gowanus and Boerum Hill.

Several key Manhattan areas remain in high demand but saw their popularity dip compared to last year as renters seek places with cheaper rents, better amenities, and more space: Greenwich Village (-8 spots), West Village (-7 spots), Chelsea (-6 spots).

The Search From the UES to Astoria: My rent was doubling so I found a bigger space in a cheaper neighborhood with easy parking

The Search From Greenwich Village to the East Village: I was moving in with my partner and wanted an elevator building for our dog

The Search From Hell’s Kitchen to the UES: We traded a cramped rental for a larger space in a fancy neighborhood

Jennifer White Karp

Managing Editor

Jennifer steers Brick Underground’s editorial coverage of New York City residential real estate and writes articles on market trends and strategies for buyers, sellers, and renters. Jennifer’s 15-year career in New York City real estate journalism includes stints as a writer and editor at The Real Deal and its spinoff publication, Luxury Listings NYC.

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