Glossary

Age: Age of the person at the time of the NYCHVS interview.

Lives with 1+ child under age 6: Person who is or lives with a child who is under age six.

Lives with 1+ child under 18: Person who is or lives with a child who is under age eighteen.

Lives with 1+ adult age 62 or older: Person who is or lives with an older adult. Older adults are defined as those who were aged 62 or older at the time of the NYCHVS interview. We use this age threshold because it is a common age for determining eligibility for public benefits targeted to seniors (such as the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption or SCRIE).

Gender: Respondents’ report of their or their household member’s current gender, with answers categorized as “Male,” “Female,” and “Other gender.”

Race/ethnicity: Respondents' report of their or their household member's race/ethnicity. These are categorized as White, Black, Asian, and Other (which includes anyone who reported two or more races). Anyone who identified as Hispanic is classified as Hispanic.

Hispanic origin: Anyone who identified as Hispanic was also asked for their ethnic heritage. Hispanic New Yorkers are classified as Puerto Rican, Dominican, South or Central American, Mexican, or other Hispanic heritage (which includes all smaller heritage groups and anyone who identified as two or more Hispanic heritages).

Asian origin: Anyone who identified as Asian was also asked for their ethnic heritage. Asian New Yorkers are classified as Chinese, Indian, Bangladeshi, Korean or other Asian heritage (which includes all smaller heritage groups and anyone who identified as two or more Asian heritages). Those who identified as Asian and Hispanic are not included in the categories of Asian heritage.

First generation immigrant: Person was born outside of the US.

Second generation immigrant: Person was born in the US to at least one parent born outside the US.

US-born parents: Category includes those who were born in the US to two US-born parents. If information on either parent was not reported, the person is not classified as having "US-born parents."

Education: Indicates the person's highest completed level of education. Responses for US and non-US educational attainment are combined to follow UNESCO categories for ISCED 2011. See https://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/international-standard-classification-ofeducation-isced-2011-en.pdf for details.

One or more disability: Person is identified as having one or more functional difficulty.Difficulties include: difficulty hearing, difficulty seeing, difficulty concentrating or remembering, difficulty walking or climbing stairs, difficulty dressing or bathing, and difficulty doing errands alone.

Ambulatory difficulty: Person has serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs. This is only asked for people aged 6 or older.

Independent living difficulty: Person has difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor's office or shopping because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem. This is only asked for people aged 16 or older.

Cognitive difficulty: Person has difficulty remembering, concentrating, or making decisions because of a physical, mental, or emotional problem. This is only asked for people aged 6 or older.

Self-care difficulty: Person has difficulty bathing or dressing. This is only asked for people aged 6 or older.

Auditory difficulty: Person is deaf or has serious difficulty hearing.

Visual difficulty: Person is blind or has serious difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses.

Speaks a language other than English: Person speaks any language other than English. This measure is limited to only people aged 6 or older.

Spanish: Person speaks Spanish. Reported only for those aged 6 or older.

Chinese: Person speaks Chinese. Reported only for those aged 6 or older.

Russian: Person speaks Russian. Reported only for those aged 6 or older.

Bengali: Person speaks Bengali. Reported only for those aged 6 or older.

Haitian Creole: Person speaks Haitian Creole. Reported only for those aged 6 or older.

English proficiency: For each person who speaks at least one language other than English, the respondent indicates how well the person speaks English from a scale of "Very well" to "Not at all." Reported only for those aged 6 or older.

Borough: Borough (county) where the home is located.

Year building was built: Year the building was built.

Stories in building: Total stories in the building.

Residential units in building: Total number of residential units in the building.

Bedrooms in home: Count of rooms used mainly for sleeping, even if also used for other purposes. A housing unit consisting of only one room, such as a one-room efficiency apartment, is classified as having no bedroom.

Rating of neighborhood as a place to live: Rating of current neighborhood as a place to live from 1 to 10, where 1 is "worst" and 10 is "best." All people living together are counted based on the respondent's rating.

Rating of neighborhood safety: Rating of how safe the streets around the home are at night from 1 to 10, where 1 is "very unsafe" and 10 is "very safe." All people living together are counted based on the respondent's rating.

Rating of home as a place to live: Rating of their home as a place to live from 1 to 10, where 1 is "worst" and 10 is "best." All people living together are counted based on the respondent's rating.

No heat 1+ times: Lacking heat for six hours or more in the past winter.

Extra heat source: Use of supplemental heat, such as a stove or space heater.

Leak: Water or moisture entering or causing damage to any interior part of the home in the past year.

Rodents in home or building: Presence of mice or rats in the home or building in the past three months.

Toilet breakdown: No working toilet for at least six hours in the past three months.

Holes in floor or walls: Cracks or holes in the walls, ceiling, or floor at the time of the NYCHVS interview.

Peeling paint/broken plaster: Large area of broken plaster or peeling paint at the time of the NYCHVS interview.

Mold: Mold in the home in the past year.

Roaches: Presence of six or more roaches in the home in a typical day in the past month.

Years lived in home: The number of years a person has lived in their home.

Tenure: Indicates whether the current occupant(s) are renters or owners.

Owner occupied: Person lives in a condominium, cooperative, or more typical 1-4 family home where at least one occupant is the homeowner.

Rent stabilized: Person lives in a rent stabilized home. Rent stabilization generally applies to units in buildings built before 1974 with six or more units through the Emergency Tenant Protection Act (ETPA), though other units are also subject to rent stabilization as a result of participation in affordable housing or tax incentive program.

Public housing: Person lives in public housing, which is means-tested with rents set according to the income of the current occupants. In NYC, public housing is owned and operated by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

Market rentals: Person lives in a market rental, which is a home that is not subject to rent stabilization or any form of income restrictions.

All other types of rentals: Person rents a home that is neither owned by the occupant(s), rent stabilized, public housing, nor a market rental. This includes homes that are part of the Mitchell Lama program, homes subject to the New York City Loft Board, rent controlled homes, in rem homes, and other affordable housing rental homes not otherwise subject to rent stabilization.

Voucher: Person has a voucher where the rent paid by the tenant varies based on their income. Vouchers refer to having a Section 8 or Housing Choice Voucher.

Accessibility: Person lives in a home that requires no steps, some steps, or one or more flights of stairs to reach unit.

Elevator in building: Building has one or more elevator.

Requires modification to home: Person with one or more disability requires a modification they do not currently have to live safely in their home.

Household size: Number of people living in the home.

Crowding: Person lives in a home that is crowded. Crowding is defined as more than two people per bedroom or more than two people living in a studio/efficiency.

Lives with 1+ person with one or more disability: Person lives with one or more person with a disability.

Animal(s): Person lives in a home with one or more animals (either service animals or pets).

Cat(s): Person lives in a home with one or more cat.

Dog(s): Person lives in a home with one or more dog.

Household income: Sum of all personal income for every person in the household in the calendar year prior to the NYCHVS interview.

Personal income: Total income or earnings for a single person from all sources, such as salary or retirement, in the calendar year prior to the NYCHVS interview.

Monthly rent: Amount of rent due last month, inclusive of any fees.

Rent burden: Categories based on the rent-to-household income ratio (monthly rent / monthly income). Renters who live in public housing or reported having a voucher are not classified into categories of rent burden, nor are homeowners.

Not rent burdened: People living together who pay 30% or less of household income toward rent. Households that paid no rent but reported having some income were classified as not rent burdened.

Moderately rent burdened: People living together who pay more than 30% but not more than 50% of household income toward rent.

Severely rent burdened: People living together who pay more than 50% of household income toward rent. Households that reported paying some rent but having no income were classified as severely rent burdened.

Paid rent late one or more times: Rent was paid late one or more times in the previous year because the occupants did not have enough money at the time.

Food insecurity: Measured in the 2023 NYCHVS using the US Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form from the USDA Economic Research Service (https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/8282/short2012.pdf).

Worked in past week: Person worked for pay in the week prior to the NYCHVS interview.

Any debt (respondent only): Respondent has any amount of personal debt, including credit cards, student loans, car loans, medical or legal debt, outstanding loans from family or friends, or another type of debt. This is only collected for the respondent and is therefore not representative of all people.

Student debt (respondent only): Respondent has any amount of student loans. This is only collected for the respondent and is therefore not representative of all people.