The majority of regulated tenants are non-white. Much like the racial makeup of New York City as a whole, the majority of rent stabilized tenants are non-white. The racial and ethnic makeup of unregulated units is very similar, except that a slightly higher percent of unregulated households are black, non-Hispanic, while a lower percent are Hispanic. Manhattan rents are costly, because the bulk of unregulated dwellings are concentrated in high-rent areas such as Greenwich Village and the Upper East and West Sides. Stabilized tenants pay less than one-third of their income on housing costs.
Some groups occupying unregulated rentals likewise face severe affordability problems.
Single elderly people, in particular, spend more than half of their meager incomes on rent. Stabilized apartments are small and house a diverse population. The 1993 HVS data shows that rent stabilized apartments are scattered throughout New York City's diverse neighborhoods and that the overwhelming majority of rent stabilized tenants are of modest means. By comparing rent stabilized and unregulated households, we can see that stabilized tenants have lower annual incomes and occupy apartments with lower rents. Regulated units rent for less partly because of their location and partly because they are smaller than unregulated dwellings.