United States · North America
Moving to New York City
New York City quick facts
United States at a glance
North America
Economy
World Bank · 2025Religion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in New York City
Can you move to United States?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter United States — and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice — confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in United States
Status, Social Security number and the ID you need to fly
There is no residence-permit step after arrival in the US: your I-94 admission record is your status, and there is no local registration office to visit. What you do need in your first weeks is a Social Security number if you are work-authorised, or an ITIN from the IRS if you are not, because almost everything else — payroll, banking, credit, phone contracts — keys off one of those two numbers. Since 7 May 2025 you also need a REAL ID-compliant licence or a passport to board a domestic flight.
Read the full step-by-step guideExchanging a foreign licence at the New York DMV
New York gives you 30 days from becoming a resident to get a New York licence. There is no country-by-country exchange list: a foreign licence lets you drive as a visitor, but once you're a resident you apply as a new driver, which means the permit test, a five-hour pre-licensing course and a road test. The DMV's online pre-screening tool tells you exactly which of these apply to you before you queue for anything. Honestly, most New Yorkers don't drive at all — decide whether you need this before spending the time.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpening a US bank account and building credit from zero
You can open a US bank account without a Social Security number: federal rules let a bank accept a passport number and country of issuance, or an ITIN, as your identifying number. The harder problem is credit. You arrive with no US credit file at all, which is treated worse than a bad one — it blocks apartment applications, phone contracts and card approvals. A secured credit card in month one is the standard fix and it is worth doing before you need it.
Read the full step-by-step guideHealth insurance in New York — and what happens if you have none
Coverage comes from your employer, from the state marketplace, or from Medicaid/Essential Plan if your income is low enough. Understand three numbers before you choose a plan: the premium you pay monthly, the deductible you pay before the plan contributes, and the out-of-pocket maximum that caps your annual exposure. New York City also runs NYC Care, which gives uninsured residents access to city hospital care regardless of immigration status — a genuine safety net that most cities do not have.
Read the full step-by-step guideGetting a US phone number without a credit history
The US has no SIM registration requirement: you do not register a phone number against your identity documents, which makes this one of the easiest countries in the world to get connected. Buy a prepaid SIM or eSIM on arrival and it works immediately. The catch is postpaid contracts, which run a credit check you cannot pass on day one — either pay a deposit or simply stay prepaid, which is cheaper anyway.
Read the full step-by-step guideFederal, state and city income tax — three bills, one salary
New York City residents pay federal income tax, New York State income tax, and a New York City resident income tax on top. The city rate runs from 3.078% to 3.876% and hits its maximum at only $50,000 of taxable income for a single filer. State rates top out at 9.65% above $1,077,550, rising to 10.9% above $25 million, and those top rates are legislated through 2032. There is one piece of good news: from the 2026 tax year New York began phasing in a rate cut for middle incomes.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas — sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential English phrases
Reading a list isn’t learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer — hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
The broker fee is no longer yours to pay
CriticalSince the FARE Act took effect on 11 June 2025, a broker hired by the landlord cannot charge you their fee — the party who hires the broker pays them. Every fee you will owe must also be disclosed in the listing and itemised in writing before you sign. This overturned a New York norm of 12–15% of annual rent, roughly a month's salary, and it is so recent that plenty of listings and out-of-date guides still assume you'll pay. You can still hire your own broker and pay them by choice.
Apply for your Social Security number about ten days after you land
CriticalSSA verifies your immigration status against DHS records, and those records take roughly a week or two to catch up after entry. Walking into an office on day two usually means being sent away and coming back. Only people with work authorisation are eligible; if you aren't, you need an ITIN from the IRS instead, on Form W-7. The card is free — anyone charging you for one is running a scam.
You pay three income taxes here, not one
CriticalFederal, New York State, and — uniquely among big American cities — a New York City resident income tax of 3.078% to 3.876% on top. The city rate reaches its maximum at just $50,000 of taxable income for a single filer, so someone on $60,000 pays the same marginal city rate as someone on $1 million. Compare a New York offer against a Texas or Florida one and the gap is much wider than the headline numbers suggest.
Health insurance comes from your employer, and the gap between jobs is real
CriticalThere is no national health service. Your employer's plan is the normal route, and your out-of-pocket exposure is set by the deductible — the amount you pay before the plan pays anything, often several thousand dollars. Between jobs, or if you're self-employed, you buy through NY State of Health, the state marketplace. Losing job-based coverage triggers a special enrolment window, so you don't have to wait for the annual one.
Landlords want 40× the monthly rent in annual income
ImportantThe standard screening rule is that your gross annual salary must be at least 40 times the monthly rent — a $3,500 apartment wants $140,000. If you can't show that, or you have no US credit history at all, you'll need either a guarantor who earns 80× or an institutional guarantor service that charges a percentage of annual rent. Arriving with no US credit file is normal for newcomers and is the single most common reason a viable application gets rejected.
Tipping is not optional and it is not 10%
ImportantRestaurant service staff are paid a lower base wage on the assumption that tips make up the difference. 18–20% is the working floor for table service, and the card terminal will usually suggest 20/25/30%. Tip bartenders roughly a dollar or two a drink, and taxi and rideshare drivers around 15–20%. Not tipping reads as a deliberate insult rather than thrift.
Top industries & employers
Finance & asset management
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Citadel Securities, Two Sigma
Still the deepest capital market on earth, and increasingly a quant and engineering employer — Two Sigma and Citadel compete directly with big tech on compensation.
Media, publishing & advertising
The New York Times, Condé Nast, WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal, Ogilvy
The American media industry is headquartered here in a way no other sector is so concentrated in one city, though the money has moved from print to streaming and platforms.
Technology
Google, Meta, Amazon, Bloomberg, Datadog, Ramp
Google's Hudson Square campus makes New York its largest engineering base outside California, and the local startup scene skews to fintech and enterprise rather than consumer.
Healthcare & life sciences
NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, Memorial Sloan Kettering
The academic medical centres are among the city's largest employers, and the Alexandria Center and Science Park build-out is growing a real biotech cluster.
Law & professional services
Skadden, Cravath, Deloitte, McKinsey, PwC
The centre of American corporate law. Note that practising law here requires New York bar admission — foreign qualifications rarely transfer without an LLM and the bar exam.
Fashion & design
Ralph Lauren, Tapestry, PVH, Tiffany & Co.
Design and merchandising headquarters remain in the Garment District and SoHo even though manufacturing left decades ago.
Where to go in New York City
The High Line
Landmark · Chelsea to Hudson Yards
A disused elevated freight rail line replanted as a linear park running thirty feet above the West Side streets.
Local tip: Enter at Gansevoort and walk north, and go early — by midday in summer it is a slow-moving crowd. The Chelsea Market entrance is the most congested.
Prospect Park
Nature · Brooklyn
Olmsted and Vaux's other park, which they considered better than Central Park, wrapped by Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Flatbush.
Local tip: The Long Meadow is the largest continuous open lawn in any US city park. Locals use Prospect over Central for anything that isn't tourism — it is less policed, less manicured and more genuinely used.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Culture · Upper East Side
Two million square feet spanning five thousand years, from Egyptian temples to the rooftop bar.
Local tip: Admission is pay-what-you-wish for New York State residents and NY/NJ/CT students — bring proof of address. Everyone else pays the full fee, which is not obvious on the website.
Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights
Food · Queens
The densest stretch of Latin American, South Asian and Himalayan food in the country, under the elevated 7 train.
Local tip: Queens is the most linguistically diverse place on the planet — around 800 languages. Come hungry, bring cash, and follow the queue of people who look like they've done this before.
Coney Island & Brighton Beach
Neighborhood · South Brooklyn
A boardwalk, a wooden roller coaster from 1927, and next door the largest Russian-speaking neighbourhood in the US.
Local tip: The D, F, N and Q all go there for a normal subway fare — an hour from Midtown and you're at the Atlantic. Off-season in October it's better than in August.
Green-Wood Cemetery
Hidden gemNature · Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
478 acres of Victorian landscape on Brooklyn's highest point, with a monk parakeet colony nesting in the Gothic gate.
Local tip: Almost no visitors come here and it is one of the best views of Manhattan in the city, from Battle Hill. It predates Central Park and was the model for it — free to enter, open daily.
Emergency numbers in New York City
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