The New York City Economic Tracker: February 17, 2025

The New York City Economy Tracker is a joint project between Investopedia and NY1, using publicly available data to evaluate the economic health of the city across a variety of metrics.

For the week of February 17, 2025, we’re looking at average annual funding from the federal government to New York City, and its impact on various programs supporting New Yorkers.

How Does Money From the Federal Government Impact New Yorkers?

Over $100 billion flows from the federal government to New Yorkers each year, according to an analysis by the NYC Comptroller’s office. However, this money comes from a variety of different sources and through a number of different programs to ultimately impact the lives of people in the city.

The programs that account for the largest share of the annual money the federal government sends to New Yorkers are for essential healthcare services. This includes a total of $53.8 billion dollars from programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Essential Plan for healthcare for millions of New Yorkers. An additional $32.7 billion is provided for income security and related benefits like Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) that also benefit millions of New Yorkers.

Additionally, in a typical year, the federal government provides about $5.5 billion through both categorical and block grants to public health, education, and housing institutions like the CUNY system, NYC Health + Hospitals, and the NYC Housing Authority that educate, house, and treat millions of New Yorkers.

What Parts of the City Budget Are Most Impacted by the Federal Government?

Aside from assistance and grants that provide direct benefit to New Yorkers, the federal government also gave almost $10 billion dollars in funding to the city government’s FY ‘25 operational budget, about 8.3% of the city’s entire budget of $115 billion for that fiscal year. Although much of this money isn’t conveyed directly to New Yorkers, it still has a substantial effect on the city agencies that do administer programs directly impacting New Yorkers.

For example, about 50% of the NYC Administration for Children’s Services budget—about $1.6 billion dollars—was from federal funding in FY ‘25. The NYC ACS conducts child abuse and neglect investigations, juvenile justice programs, and helps subsidize care and education for kids around the city. Around 30% of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development’s expenses—around $673 million dollars—was federally funded in FY ‘25. The NYC HPD enforces the housing maintenance code on behalf of tenants for buildings across the city and helps owners keep buildings in good repair with loans, and outreach and educational programs. An estimated 17% of the NYC Department of Homeless Services line items—about $625 million dollars—was federally funded in FY ‘25. The NYC DHS is the organization that helps New Yorkers without housing find shelter, employment opportunities, and connections to other aid.

Although NYC receives a lot of money from the federal government, it’s important to put this relationship into perspective. New York City is a net contributor to the federal government—with the exception of years that required major federal financial assistance such as after Hurricane Sandy and the COVID-19 crisis, the city’s balance of payments with the federal government is usually negative. Taxes New Yorkers pay into the federal government typically exceed the money transferred from the federal government to New York City.