Half of New York City households don’t make enough money to meet their basic needs, up from 36% in 2021, according to a new report sponsored by the United Way of New York City and the Fund for the City of New York.

The new “true cost of living” accounting out Tuesday – including housing, childcare, food, healthcare, transportation, taxes, and other miscellaneous costs without public or private aid – shows costs have more than doubled across the city since 2000, far more than wages have risen.

The necessary hourly wage for a single adult is more than $20 across all boroughs, according to the researchers, ranging from a little over $22 in the Bronx to nearly $36 in downtown Manhattan, the report concluded.

For a family of four with two adults, a preschooler, and a school-age child, researchers found that expenses totaled more than $100,000 across the city. The figure was as high as $142,000 in Northwest Brooklyn and $152,000 in downtown Manhattan. Meanwhile, citywide, the median annual earnings for such a family was less than $50,000.

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