As Bronx Rent Prices Keep Climbing, Priced-Out Residents Look to Connecticut and New Jersey

Rents in the Bronx are still climbing, and some longtime residents say they are being priced out of the borough where they grew up. A recent report from News 12 Connecticut found borough rents up nearly 4% over the past year, with several neighborhoods rising far faster, and quoted residents who say they are weighing a move out of New York entirely.

"The prices are just horrendous," Evol Green, a 15-year Bronx resident, told the station.

The increases are not spread evenly. According to the News 12 analysis, rents in Highbridge and Concourse Village rose about 9% over the year, Riverdale climbed more than 7.5%, and Morris Heights and University Heights ran above 6%. Mott Haven in the South Bronx was the exception, with rents down about 4.5%. Studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms all rose at least 3.5%.

"These people who are born in the Bronx and grew up here, it is almost like we are asking them to leave," said Gladstone Johnson, executive director of Bronx Neighborhood Housing Services, who told the station the borough needs more apartments, including options that let younger residents stay and eventually own.

What the rent data shows

A RentDataNow review of ZIP-level data puts the typical Bronx median rent at about $2,783, ranging from roughly $2,162 in the cheaper east and central Bronx, including ZIP 10462 around Parkchester, to about $3,315 in higher-cost areas such as Riverdale and its ZIP 10471. That sits well below the citywide median of about $4,049 across New York City, but far above the national median rent of about $1,930. For households on Bronx incomes, that middle position is the squeeze.

Where residents are looking

Many of those considering a move are looking at Connecticut, the News 12 report found. The rent data shows the move can pay off, but mainly past the commuter belt. Interior cities are markedly cheaper. Waterbury averages about $1,582, Hartford about $1,682, and Bridgeport about $2,147, all under the Bronx median. Waterbury runs roughly $1,200 a month less.

Closer-in Connecticut offers little relief. Stamford averages about $2,912, Norwalk about $2,671, and New Haven about $2,277 and climbing 11.6% over the year, near or above Bronx levels.

The moves that do not help

Renters who look just over the city line into southern Westchester find roughly the same prices they are trying to escape. Yonkers averages about $2,799, Mount Vernon about $2,741, and New Rochelle about $2,975, all at or above the Bronx median.

The clearer nearby option is across the Hudson. Newark, New Jersey averages about $2,133, several hundred dollars below the Bronx median, with rail and PATH access to Manhattan. The wider New Jersey commuter belt offers similar savings, detailed in RentDataNow's guide to the best NJ commuter towns by rent.

A supply problem with no quick fix

Housing advocates told News 12 the underlying issue is supply, and that meaningful relief could take two to four years. Until then, the report and the data point the same way. The Bronx remains cheaper than Manhattan but expensive against the rest of the country, the steepest increases are hitting its lowest-cost neighborhoods, and for renters running the numbers, the real savings begin where the easy commute ends. Renters can weigh their current Bronx ZIP against any destination with the RentDataNow compare tool, or review the full New York City rent breakdown by borough.

Sources

Reporting, quotes, and neighborhood rent trends: News 12 Connecticut, The prices are just horrendous: Rising Bronx rents push residents to consider leaving the borough (Sam Israel, June 2026). ZIP-level and city rent figures: RentDataNow, June 2026, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index.