The Average New Yorker

New York is the fourth most-populated state in the United States, housing the most populated city and nearly 20 million people. If it were a country, it would be 60^th in the world in terms of population. With a strong multicultural history, New York is an ever-changing community. With that in mind, we decided to find out who, exactly, is the average New Yorker. What is their name? Where do they live? What are their kids’ ages? How much do they drink? And how much personal debt do they have?

We combined our own data collected from various finder.com surveys of thousands of Americans, with data from the US Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and several other sources to build a personal profile of the average New Yorker. Meet Jennifer…

The Basics

1. Jennifer is 38 years old, overweight and a Democrat.
2. She has two kids: a girl named Sophia or Emily, aged 4, and a boy named Michael, aged 17. She will spend $358 on them over the next school break.
3. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and takes 33 minutes to get to work.
4. She has a credit card debt of $5,402 (which would take 10 years to pay off if only the minimum payment is made each month). She uses it most during sales, and her most common unplanned purchase is eating out.
5. She spent $225 on her mom on Mother’s Day, but will only spend $144 on her dad next Father’s Day.
6. She drives a Honda CR-V.
7. She owns a home worth $699,000, paying $3,206 per month in mortgage repayments. (In NY State the figures are $279,100, paying $1,250 per month in mortgage repayments).
8. Jennifer works 49 hours and 8 minutes a week in a retail or office environment – more than Americans in any other city – to earn $1,109 per week, or $57,705 annually. This is over $10,000 more than the national average of $47,669.
9. She is Catholic.
10. Jennifer has $16,971 of student debt.
11. She spent $65 on her significant other last Valentine’s Day.
12. She drinks 6.8 alcoholic drinks a week, or 353 drinks a year, and estimates her own spending as $675 annually (which is probably an underestimate)
13. Jennifer has spent $84 on spontaneous purchases while under the influence of alcohol.
14. She considers herself to be in a financially healthy situation.
15. On her last vacation, Jennifer accumulated $1,608 in credit card debt, and planned a budget before Christmas last year, buying over 50% of her gifts online.

Methodology

This study is meant for illustrative purposes only. In most cases, figures used were based on population averages, however in some situations this was not possible. In these cases, the most popular or populated item was used. An example of this includes Brooklyn being the most populated boroughs in the most populated city in New York State.

Sources

1. Age calculated using United States Census data (2011). Name based on the most popular baby name in New York at year of birth from Social Security Online. Weight sourced from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
2. Age calculated using United States Census data (2011). Name based on the most popular baby name in New York at year of birth from Social Security Online.
3. Brooklyn is the most populated borough in the most populated city in New York. Commute time sourced from Census Reporter.
4. Credit card debt sourced from TransUnion. Credit card use data sourced from a finder.com survey of 5,826 Americans comissioned in April 2016.
5. Data sourced from a finder.com survey of 5,826 Americans comissioned in April 2016.
6. Based on most popular card sold in 2014, sourced from IHS Automotive.
7. Loan data sourced from United States Census data via Census Reporter and trulia.com. Repayments based on average interest rate in New York sourced from Zillow, and does not take into account a deposit amount.
8. Sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
9. Data sourced from Pew Research.
10. Sourced from the Institute for College Access and Success and considers the average debt and the percentage of the population with debt.
11. Data sourced from a finder.com survey of 3,622 Americans commissioned in January 2016
12. Data sourced from a finder.com survey of 3,622 Americans commissioned in January 2016.
13. Data sourced from a finder.com survey of 3,622 Americans commissioned in January 2016.
14. Data sourced from a finder.com survey of 3,622 Americans commissioned in January 2016.
15. Data sourced from a finder.com survey of 3,918 Americans commissioned in November 2015.

For all media inquiries, please contact:

Richard Laycock, Insights editor and senior content marketing manager

E: uspr@finder.com

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Written by

Adrienne Fuller

Head of publishing and editorial

Adrienne Fuller is the former head of publishing at Finder US. With a decade of experience creating guides in finance and education, she aimed to deliver the accurate and transparent information she wished she had when she made some of life's important financial decisions. Adrienne has a BA from Colorado College and loves to hike with her two Catahoula dogs. See full bio