2026 New York City Travel Cost Study
New York City on a budget
A mid-range trip of 4 nights in New York City costs two people about $2,020, or $253 per person per night, before flights. The hotel line is the median of all sampled 4-star nights, October 2026 included.
New York City trip cost calculator
Set the trip you have in mind: how many nights, how many of you, your style and your month. The hotel figure is what Google Hotels showed for that star class in that month, as a median. Food and car figures are quoted from guides and booking sites. Copy the link to save or share your budget.
Your trip
$2,020
$1,010 per person · $253 per person per night
| Hotel | $1,364 |
|---|---|
| Eating out | $400 |
| Activities | $213 |
| Car hire | $0 |
| Subway and bus (not counted) | $0 |
| JFK AirTrain | $35 |
| NYC hotel room fee | $8 |
Short answer
- Budget $1,048 4 nights, 2 travellers
- Mid-range $2,020 4 nights, 2 travellers
- Comfort $6,256 4 nights, 2 travellers
The hotel is most of the bill: $1,364 of the $2,020 a couple spends on 4 nights at mid-range, before flights. That is $253 each per night. Your travel month changes the room price a lot. On the two nights we sampled per month, read on 24 October 2026, a 4-star room was advertised at a median $175 a night in January, but $561 in September. The budget style is about $1,048 and comfort about $6,256. Add your flights on top.
How to spend less in New York City
- Look at January first. On the two nights we sampled, read on 24 October 2026, a 4-star room was advertised at a median $175 a night then. In September it was $561. These are advertised prices from one reading, not a rule for every year.
- Choose a 3-star hotel. Across all the nights we sampled, the median 3-star night was $162. The median 4-star night was $341.
- Look across the East River. On the nights we sampled (October 2026 left out), a 3-star night in Brooklyn or Queens had a median $132, against $232 on Manhattan (136 and 211 prices). At 4-star it was $253 against $333 (55 and 633 prices). Each area lists different hotels, so this shows where Google's list was cheaper, not the same room for less. Manhattan here means the island; the Bronx, Staten Island and New Jersey are left out. Where to stay in New York City.
- Check the Saturday price at 5-star hotels. On the dates we sampled, the same 5-star hotel changed its price by a median -12.8% from Tuesday to Saturday. At 3-star hotels the change was 9.5%. The month matters too: from -18.3% in February to 32.6% in December.
- Tap the same card on every ride. A subway or bus ride costs $3. OMNY stops charging once one card, phone or watch has paid $35 within a week.
- Eat street food or takeaway at lunch. One backpacker guide puts a cheap lunch at about $9 per person. An average casual meal is about $25.
- Count your sights before you buy a pass. New York CityPASS started at $133 on GetYourGuide. The lowest single tickets on our pages for the Empire State Building ($45), Top of the Rock ($41) and the Natural History museum ($33) add up to $119. So if those three are all you want, single tickets cost less. A pass only pays off when you will visit enough of what it covers. Compare the New York sightseeing passes.
- Compare all three airports. Search flights into JFK, LaGuardia and Newark together, since one of them can be cheaper on your dates. We only priced the JFK AirTrain, so check what the ride into the city costs from the other two before you book.
We leave airfare out: it hangs on your home airport and your dates.
What a trip to New York City costs for two
A short mid-range stay for two runs about $1,577 (3 nights), $2,020 (4 nights) or $2,463 (5 nights), with airfare extra. For a five-day trip (5 nights), budget about $1,232 per traveler.
Here is one 4-night trip in three styles, using the median of all sampled nights. Each style includes the room, 2 restaurant meals per traveler daily, 2 tickets, the AirTrain both ways and the city's flat room fee. Subway rides are left out.
| Style | Hotel | Eating out | Activities | Transport, airport, tax | Total | Per person per night |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget 3-star hotel, cheap meals | $648 | $144 | $213 | $43 | $1,048 | $131 |
| Mid-range Our default 4-star hotel, mid-range meals | $1,364 | $400 | $213 | $43 | $2,020 | $253 |
| Comfort 5-star hotel, one fine dinner a day | $3,880 | $2,120 | $213 | $43 | $6,256 | $782 |
By length of stay (mid-range, two people)
Hotel prices in New York City by month
Per room for two, the median night cost $162 at a 3-star hotel, $341 at a 4-star and $970 at a 5-star. At 4-star level, January 2027 came out cheapest ($175 a night) and September 2027 dearest ($561).
Our own data: 1,953 prices from 383 places to stay, read from Google Hotels on 24 October 2026. For each month from October 2026 to September 2027 we looked up a Tuesday night and a Saturday night, for 2 adults sharing a room. Of those places, 96 are 3-star, 141 are 4-star and 39 are 5-star. The other 107 are hostels, apartments or hotels with fewer stars or none listed. Half of all 4-star nights fell between $257 and $477.
By month and star class
Google lists a new mix of hotels for every date we search. So we only set months side by side within one star class, such as 4-star in January next to 4-star in September. The ranking of cheapest and dearest uses the 11 months that carry no note below.
| Month | 3-star | 4-star | 5-star |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 read 3 days ahead, not ranked | $235 | $584 | $1,386 |
| November 2026 | $160 | $362 | $1,537 |
| December 2026 | $166 | $332 | $1,835 |
| January 2027 | $119 | $175 | $516 |
| February 2027 | $126 | $183 | $642 |
| March 2027 | $145 | $276 | $779 |
| April 2027 | $204 | $347 | $966 |
| May 2027 | $172 | $368 | $964 |
| June 2027 | $230 | $378 | $964 |
| July 2027 | $237 | $311 | $698 |
| August 2027 | $213 | $308 | $693 |
| September 2027 | $300 | $561 | $996 |
About these numbers
Each cell is a median nightly price for one room with 2 adults, taken from Google Hotels. Whether those prices include the city's hotel taxes was not checked. October 2026 was read only 3 days ahead. Its prices are higher, and we cannot tell whether that is short notice or the season, so it sits outside the ranking. The calculator's "any month" figure is the median of all sampled nights, that month too. On 7 sample dates, both September dates among them, we read 100 results instead of 60, because the first search found too few hotels. So those months hold more listings. Each 5-star month rests on just 13 to 53 prices, so use those as a rough guide. Rates seen months in advance can change as the date gets close.
Weekends
How we compared weekends
Is a Saturday dearer? We set each hotel's Saturday rate beside its rate on the Tuesday just before (487 pairs, same month). Over all pairs the median change was -0.6%, so on the dates we sampled, the answer is no, in general. Star class made a difference. At 3-star hotels the Saturday was a median 9.5% higher. At 4-star the change was -4.5%, at 5-star -12.8%. The other 92 pairs, at hostels, apartments and hotels with fewer or no stars, changed by 8.8%. The month mattered as much: the median ran from -18.3% in February to 32.6% in December.
Hotels worth a look (Booking.com ratings, our Google Hotels prices)
- Midtown & Times Square Pod Times Square
A compact-room hotel on West 42nd Street in Hell's Kitchen, a few blocks west of Times Square, with a restaurant and bar.
- Lower Manhattan & Financial District The Cloud One New York-Downtown, part of the Motel One Group
A hotel on Greenwich Street, less than 200 m from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, with a shared lounge and a terrace.
- Central Park & Upper West Side HI New York City Hostel
A hostel with dorm rooms on Amsterdam Avenue, about a 10-minute walk from Central Park, with a film lounge and a large patio.
- Brooklyn (Williamsburg & DUMBO) Pod Brooklyn
A hotel on Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg, spread over four buildings linked by bridges around a courtyard.
Each of these scores 8 or more on Booking.com. On the nights we sampled, Google Hotels advertised Pod Times Square at a median $187 a night (5 nights read, $119 to $408) and HI New York City Hostel at $137 (13 nights read). Pod Brooklyn and The Cloud One showed up on one night each: $131 on 16 February 2027, and $599 on 31 October 2026, a Saturday read only 7 days ahead. These are advertised prices for one room with 2 adults, not a quote for your dates. To compare neighborhoods, read where to stay in New York City.
Booking.com ratings and hotel notes as shown on 24 October 2026.
How much eating out costs in New York City
Street food or a takeaway lunch in New York City costs about $9 per person, an average casual meal about $25, and a fine-dining tasting menu about $240.
Food prices here are quoted, not measured by us: each one is copied word for word from a travel or food guide, with the date we read it. For the calculator we take the median of each group, with one vote per source. It assumes two restaurant meals per person each day and no breakfast. The budget style counts both meals at the street-food or takeaway price, which comes from 1 guide. Tax and tip are only in a figure when its source includes them. The comfort style swaps one daily meal for a tasting menu. The fine-dining figures come from 2 guides dated 2018, so prices today are likely higher.
| Meal | Used in the calculator | Published figures |
|---|---|---|
| Cheap meal street food or a takeaway lunch, per person; the budget style uses it for both daily meals | about $9 from 1 source |
|
| Casual meal an average meal at a casual restaurant, per person | about $25 median of 3 sources |
|
| Fine dining a tasting menu at a top restaurant, per person | about $240 median of 2 sources |
|
Drinks
Published prices put a beer at a New York City bar at $7 to $9, from 2 sources. A coffee runs $2.75 to $5, from 2 sources.
| Drink | Middle figure | Published figures |
|---|---|---|
| Beer a pint or a bottle at a neighborhood bar | about $8 |
|
| Coffee a regular coffee at a café | about $3.38 |
|
Keep the tasting menu for one night. A casual meal costs about $25, and street food or takeaway about $9.
What tickets and tours cost in New York City
We measured these ourselves from the tours and tickets listed on our pages, using the lowest price GetYourGuide showed on 24 October 2026. That lowest price is for the cheapest date or option, so yours may be higher. The list covers our pages, not every ticket in the city. When a page has fewer than four tours, its range is just the lowest and highest price. Broadway seats had a median starting price of $81: see tickets for shows on Broadway. Guided walks started at a median $28 on the 8 walking-tour listings on our pages (New York City walking tours). Tickets for SUMMIT One Vanderbilt next to Grand Central started at $43.
| Type | Median |
|---|---|
| Broadway show tickets | $81 $68–$94 |
| SUMMIT One Vanderbilt tickets few tours | $88 $43–$121 |
| New York City tours: walking, neighborhood, night and private tours | $28 $25–$32 |
| Top of the Rock tickets and Rockefeller Center tours | $51 $36–$62 |
| Times Square: what to do and what to book | $42 $30–$52 |
| New York museum tickets: Natural History, MoMA, The Met, Intrepid | $35 $32–$41 |
| New York helicopter tours | $246 $243–$256 |
| Edge NYC tickets: the Hudson Yards observation deck few tours | $38 $26–$85 |
| Hop-on hop-off and bus tours in New York | $64 $52–$72 |
| Empire State Building tickets | $107 $45–$127 |
| Niagara Falls tours from New York City | $478 $366–$595 |
| New York sightseeing passes compared: New York Pass, CityPASS, Explorer Pass | $106 $97–$133 |
| Brooklyn Bridge, DUMBO and Brooklyn tours | $49 $37–$54 |
| Central Park tours, bike rentals and pedicab rides | $38 $34–$42 |
| One World Observatory tickets | $27 $26–$47 |
| Brooklyn Nets tickets and New York sports games | $38 $31–$45 |
| Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours | $30 $25–$36 |
| New York boat tours and harbor cruises | $28 $24–$36 |
| Day trips from New York City | $106 $96–$126 |
| New York food tours: pizza, Chinatown, Greenwich Village | $63 $48–$83 |
| Grand Central Terminal tours | $35 $33–$39 |
| Live jazz in New York: clubs, concerts and jazz cruises | $120 $120–$123 |
| Washington DC day trip from New York City | $106 $98–$114 |
| 9/11 Memorial & Museum tickets and Ground Zero tours | $25 $23–$26 |
| Harlem gospel tours and Sunday church services | $32 $24–$51 |
| Comedy shows in New York | $21 $13.80–$22 |
Middle half: the 25th to 75th percentile of from-prices; rows with fewer than 4 tours ("few tours") show a rough spread only. A "from" price is the lowest option a listing offers. Prices and ratings as shown on GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026.
-
from $64 per person Broadway tickets NYC: MJ the Michael Jackson Musical on Broadway Check availability -
from $43 per person SUMMIT One Vanderbilt NYC: SUMMIT One Vanderbilt Tickets Check availability -
from $25 per person New York City tours NYC: SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown Guided Tour Check availability -
from $41 per person Top of the Rock New York City: Top of the Rock Observation Deck Ticket Check availability -
from $24 per person Times Square NYC: One Times Square Skywalk Check availability -
from $33 per person New York museums New York City: American Museum of Natural History Ticket Check availability
Free things to do in New York City
Some of the best views and walks in New York City cost nothing. A helicopter tour on our pages started at a median $246 per person; the ferry below passes the Statue of Liberty for free.
- Free Staten Island Ferry
The orange ferry runs day and night between Whitehall Terminal in Lower Manhattan and St. George on Staten Island. On the way it passes the Statue of Liberty and shows you the skyline from the water.
- Free Central Park
Walk, picnic or sit by the water. The park is free to enter; bike rentals and pedicab rides cost extra.
- Free The High Line
A park built on an old raised rail line on Manhattan's West Side, from the Meatpacking District to Hudson Yards. Entry is free.
- Free Brooklyn Bridge
Walk across on the raised path between Lower Manhattan and DUMBO in Brooklyn, with views of both shores. It costs nothing.
- Free World Trade Center memorial pools
The two memorial pools stand where the Twin Towers stood, and the plaza around them is free to visit. The museum next to them charges for entry.
- Free Times Square and Grand Central
See Times Square lit up at night, then look up at the painted ceiling in the main hall of Grand Central Terminal. Both are free.
Opening hours can change, so check before you go.
How much a rental car costs in New York City
Rental cars in New York City have no fixed price. Average daily rates published online range from $74 to $143, and the middle figure is $90.
Published prices, not our measurement. They differ a lot by date, car and booking site, and some are a year or two old. They do not include insurance, fuel, parking or tolls. The calculator uses the low, middle and high figure for the three styles.
- $74 a day:
Based on the average daily cost of $74
booking.com - $77 a day:
you can expect average prices starting from $77/day
momondo.com - $83 a day: middle
AVERAGE DAILY PRICE $83.00 USD/day
thrifty.com - $96 a day: middle
AVERAGE DAILY PRICE $96.00 USD/day
dollar.com - $142 a day:
NYC comes in at $142 per day
q1057.com - $143 a day:
With prices averaging $143 a day
skyscanner.com
Advertised minimums, not typical prices: from $30 a day (kayak.com).
In the city you rarely need a car, and parking in Manhattan is costly. A car makes sense for trips out of town, such as to the beaches or upstate.
Hotel room fee, the subway and the AirTrain
The $2 fee is the city's flat charge per room per night. Hotel occupancy tax and sales tax, a share of the room price, plus a small state fee, may come on top. That depends on whether Google's price already includes them, which we did not check. The calculator counts only the flat fee, per room.
Key findings of the 2026 New York City Travel Cost Study
-
On Google Hotels, read on 24 October 2026, the 4-star nights advertised in New York City had a median of $175 in January 2027, the lowest month, against $561 in September 2027, the highest
(per room per night, 2 adults; one Tuesday and one Saturday per month, read once, months to a year ahead, so a snapshot and not a booked price; the two months list partly different hotels, and September 2027 was read with a deeper search of 100 results; 11 months ranked up to September 2027; October 2026, read only days ahead, is not ranked; whether the prices include taxes and fees is not known). -
Across all 1,953 Google Hotels results for New York City from 383 places to stay (hotels of every star class, hostels and some whole apartments), read on 24 October 2026, the median advertised night was $332 for 2 adults, with half of all prices between $176 and $604
(24 sample nights from October 2026 to September 2027, one Tuesday and one Saturday a month). -
Of the 11 months ranked, January 2027 had the lowest advertised 3-star median at $119 per room per night, just ahead of February 2027 at $126; the median of all sampled 3-star prices was $162
(2 adults; Google Hotels, read on 24 October 2026, one Tuesday and one Saturday per month; 22 to 63 prices a month, so single months move a lot). -
On the sampled dates, Saturdays were not dearer across the board: the same 3-star hotel was advertised at a median 9.5% more on the Saturday than on the Tuesday before it (90 hotel pairs, per room per night), while for the same 5-star hotel the median difference was -12.8%, so lower
(116 hotel pairs; 12 pairs of dates, one per month, read on 24 October 2026, and the sign changes from month to month). -
Published guides put a cheap lunch in New York City at about $9 per person (one backpacker guide) and an average casual meal at about $25 (three sources, one of them including tax and tip); a fine-dining tasting menu came to about $240 per person, the median of two figures from 2018 guides, one of them an article on cheaper deals at top restaurants. These are cited figures, not our measurement, and the tiers describe different meals
(lunch, an average bill, a dinner menu). -
A subway or local bus ride in New York City costs $3; we found no day pass on the MTA and OMNY fare pages, but OMNY caps fares at $35 per 7 days for the same card, phone or watch used to tap. The JFK AirTrain costs $8.75 one way per person to Jamaica or Howard Beach, with the subway ride into Manhattan on top
(official fares).
Source: 2026 New York City Travel Cost Study, things-to-do-in-nyc.com (CC BY 4.0)
Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0: download the data · embed the chart
Method, data and reuse
What we measured ourselves
- Hotels: 1,953 prices of 383 hotels on Google Hotels, read on 24 October 2026. One Tuesday and one Saturday night per month, October 2026 to September 2027, 2 adults, one room; paid ads, listings without a price and duplicates left out. These are the prices advertised for those dates when we read them, not what guests later paid. Months are compared within a star class because Google shows a different set of hotels for each date. October 2026 was read at short notice; both are shown but not ranked.
- Activities: the "from" prices of the 161 tours and tickets on our 26 activity pages (the table above), as shown on GetYourGuide on 24 October 2026; the calculator offers 12 tours, one per activity page. A "from" price is the lowest option a listing offers, not a typical price.
What we cite
- Meals, drinks and car hire: figures published by travel guides, food-tour companies and rental platforms, found in Google results in the United States and quoted word for word with their date. A range counts with its midpoint, each source once per group. No figures from forums or social media. Pages that show a date are from after 2022, except the fine dining figures, from 2018; many pages show no date at all.
- NYC hotel room fee, fares: the NYC Department of Finance, MTA.
How the calculator adds up
- What the calculator assumes: the hotel and meals count per night, so a 4-night trip has 4 days of meals, not one more. The default tickets are NYC: MJ the Michael Jackson Musical on Broadway ($64 per person) and NYC: SUMMIT One Vanderbilt Tickets ($43 per person), $213 for two. That sum stays the same for every trip length. Each trip length multiplies one median night by the number of nights, with no Tuesday and Saturday mix and no stay across two months. The airport line assumes you fly into JFK.
- Hotel: nights × rooms (one per two travellers) × the median for the style's star class in that month (or the whole year).
- Eating out: nights × travellers × meals a day at the style's meal price; in comfort, one fine dinner a day and the other meals at mid-range prices.
- Car: days × the style's daily price. Activities: the from-price per person or per group.
- NYC hotel room fee: rooms (one per two travellers) × nights × $2.
- Public transport: not counted (there is no day pass; you pay $3 a ride, capped at $35 a week); airport: two JFK AirTrain rides per traveller ($8.75 each, one there and one back).
Each line is rounded to whole dollars.
Plan your New York City trip
- New York sightseeing passes compared: New York Pass, CityPASS, Explorer Pass
- Best time to visit New York City, month by month
- New York City with kids: getting around, what to do and what it costs
- Free and cheap things to do in New York City
- How many days do you need in New York City?
- Is New York City safe for tourists?
- Is New York City worth visiting?
- New York City itinerary: 1 to 5 days
- New York or another city? NYC compared with Chicago, LA, London and Paris
- Where to stay in New York City
- Christmas and winter in New York City
New York City trip costs: questions
How much does a trip to New York City cost?
At mid-range, a 4-night trip for two adds up to about $2,020 before flights. That is $253 per person per night for a 4-star hotel, two meals out a day, two tickets, the AirTrain and the city's room fee. The budget style comes to about $1,048 and the comfort style to about $6,256. Try the calculator with your dates.
How much do I need per day in New York City?
Per person, for each night of a 4-night trip for two sharing a room, plan on about $131 on a budget, $253 at mid-range and $782 in comfort, before flights. Each figure covers one hotel night, that day's meals out, a share of two tickets, the AirTrain and the room fee. The low figure means a 3-star room and street food; mid-range means a 4-star room and casual restaurants.
How much spending money is needed for New York?
Beyond the hotel, plan on about $400 for food for two people over 4 nights at mid-range, plus tickets. A casual meal costs about $25 per person and a subway ride $3. On a budget, with street food or takeaway at about $9, the whole trip for two comes to about $1,048.
Is New York City expensive to visit?
The hotel is the biggest cost. A mid-range trip for two is about $2,020 before flights, and $1,364 of that is the room. Across all the nights we sampled, the median 4-star night was $341. On the nights we sampled per month, it ranged from $175 in January to $561 in September. Food and the subway cost less than the room. We did not compare other cities.
Why is New York City so expensive?
The room is the big cost. In our mid-range trip, the hotel is $1,364 of the $2,020 total. Hotel taxes may come on top, if Google's price leaves them out (we did not check). The advertised price also changes a lot by month: a 4-star room ran from $175 in January to $561 in September on the nights we sampled.
Where can I find cheap accommodation in New York City?
Pick a 3-star hotel and a quiet month. A 3-star night cost a median $162 per room across all sampled nights, and $119 in January. See where to stay in New York City.
How can I see New York City on a budget?
Look at January, the cheapest month on the nights we sampled, choose a 3-star hotel and get around by subway at $3 a ride, with OMNY's $35 weekly cap. Eat street food or takeaway at about $9. Pay for only the tickets you want most. More ways to spend less.
Are New York City passes like CityPASS worth the money?
Only if you will use enough of what the pass covers. CityPASS started at $133 on GetYourGuide, while the lowest single tickets on our pages for the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock and the Natural History museum added up to $119. Add up the single tickets for the sights you really want, then compare the passes.
Is a New York helicopter tour worth the money?
Helicopter tours on our pages started at a median $246 per person (5 listings). That is worth it only if the flight itself is the treat you want; for the harbor and the Statue of Liberty from the water, the Staten Island Ferry is free, and the view from SUMMIT One Vanderbilt started at $43.
Are there cheaper Broadway show tickets?
Yes. Broadway seats on our pages started at a median $81, but the TKTS booth in Times Square sells discounted seats for shows on the same day, and many shows run digital lotteries and rush tickets at lower prices. Seats and discounts change by show and day, so check each show's own site; see tickets for shows on Broadway.
Sources
Car hire prices (cited)
All read 23 October 2026 (the day we read them, not the day they were published; some pages show no date)
Meal and drink prices (cited)
All read 23 October 2026 (the day we read them, not the day they were published; some pages show no date)
Official sources
All read 24 October 2026
- Hotel room fee per night: nyc.gov
- Transit day pass: omny.info
- Transit single ride: mta.info
- Airport transfer one way: jfkairport.com