Average HOA Fees in Manhattan and NYC, by Building Size

A Homeowners Association (HOA) manages a residential community — condos, townhomes, or planned developments — and collects a monthly fee for shared amenities, maintenance, insurance, and staff. In New York City condos the fee is called a common charge. The Manhattan median works out at about $1,293 a month on a 1,000 square foot apartment, but half of Manhattan's 1,154 condo buildings fall anywhere between $1,091 and $1,513 for that same apartment, and the rest sit outside even that range. A borough average therefore says very little about the building in front of you. What decides the bill is the reserve fund, the assessment history and the staffing, and all three are in the building's financial statements before you commit.

What NYC common charges actually run

New York City condominium filings put the median operating expense at $12.30 per square foot a year across 2,970 buildings — about $1,025 a month on a 1,000 square foot apartment. The middle half of buildings sits between $9.77 and $15.45 per square foot.

Manhattan runs roughly half again above Queens on the same measure, and the spread within each borough is wider than the gap between them — a doorman building with a pool and a walk-up on the next block are not comparable, whatever the borough average says.

What this figure is, and is not

The Department of Finance figure is an operating expense used for assessment purposes. It is not the common charge quoted on a listing, which is set by each building's board and can sit above or below it. Treat the table as the shape of the market rather than a quote, and read the actual figure from the building's own financial statements before buying. The full breakdown, including what the charge covers and the red flags in a building's accounts, is in our guide to NYC HOA and common charges.

A low monthly charge is not a low cost

The trap in comparing two buildings on their monthly figure is that a charge held artificially low is usually being funded by underfunding the reserve. The bill still arrives, as a capital assessment — a one-off demand for a roof, a facade inspection or an elevator, often running to five figures per unit.

So the monthly number is only half the comparison. The other half is the reserve balance and the assessment history, both of which sit in the building's financial statements and are available before you commit. A building charging more each month with a healthy reserve is frequently the cheaper one to own. Our guides to reading a building's financials and capital assessments cover what to look for.

Two related distinctions matter when comparing buildings: how common charges differ from co-op maintenance, covered in common charges vs maintenance, and what an amenity package adds each month, covered in what the pool actually costs you.