# New York

- Link: https://perfectnations.org/50-states/new-york/
- Published: 2026-11-10T15:57:16-04:00
- Author: Preeti Sinha

[Perfect New York · A blueprint of the 50 States](https://perfectnations.org/50-states/)

# New York

A $2.47 trillion economy where 145,560 people had no home on a single night.

Perfect Nations counts what New York owns, prices the seven basic standards of living
for every resident, and designs the capital that closes the gap.

62 counties

 * **$2.47tn**GDP, 2025 [BEA, 2025](https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state)
 * **$309.7bn**The State’s pension fund, 30 June 2026 [State Comptroller, 2026](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/08/dinapoli-state-pension-fund-valued-3097-billion-end-first-quarter)
 * **145,560**People without a home on one night, January 2025 [HUD, 2025](https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/homelessness-falls-statewide-rises-many-new-york-regions)

 [The solutions](https://perfectnations.org/50-states/new-york/#pnst-solutions) 
[All 50 states](https://perfectnations.org/50-states/)

01 · Assets · What New York owns

## Five assets that can carry Perfect New York.

Each is owned by New Yorkers today, earns or saves every year, and can carry a standard
of living.

 * 01
 * $309.7bn
 * 
   ### The pension fund
   
 * The New York State Common Retirement Fund, invested for the State’s public workers
   and retirees (estimated value, 30 June 2026).
 * [State Comptroller, 2026](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/08/dinapoli-state-pension-fund-valued-3097-billion-end-first-quarter)
 * 02
 * 6 million acres
 * 
   ### The Adirondack Park
   
 * Nearly half belongs to all the people of New York State, protected “forever wild”
   by the State Constitution.
 * [Adirondack Park Agency](https://apa.ny.gov/about/park.html)
 * 03
 * 1 billion gallons a day
 * 
   ### The water
   
 * New York City’s upstate reservoirs supply its 8.5 million residents and one million
   more people in four counties.
 * [NYC Environmental Protection](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dep/water/water-supply.page)
 * 04
 * Up to 1 in 4
 * 
   ### The power
   
 * The State’s own Power Authority supplies up to a quarter of the electricity New
   York consumes, from 17 generating facilities.
 * [Power Authority, 2024](https://www.nypa.gov/-/media/nypa/documents/document-library/governance/2024-nypa-major-authority-units.pdf)
 * 05
 * 20.0m
 * 
   ### The people
   
 * New Yorkers on 1 July 2025: the asset every other asset serves.
 * [Census Bureau, 2025](https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-state-total.html)

02 · The seven basic standards of living

## Perfect New York, star by star.

One measure for each of the seven basic standards of living. Where no official measure
is published yet, the gap is shown, not filled.

 1.  Food**14.0%**
 2.  At risk
 3.  of households food insecure, 2022–2024 (United States 13.3%) [USDA, 2025](https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/113623/ERR-358.pdf)
 4.  Water
 5.  Not yet measured
 6.  Lead service lines still in use: the State’s figure under the 2025 federal update
     is being confirmed.
 7.  Shelter**145,560**
 8.  Binding
 9.  people without a home on one night, January 2025 [HUD, 2025](https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/homelessness-falls-statewide-rises-many-new-york-regions)
 10. Energy
 11. Not yet measured
 12. Households behind on energy bills: awaiting a primary published count.
 13. Education**31%**
 14. At risk
 15. of fourth graders read at the NAEP Proficient level, 2024 (United States 30%) 
     [NAEP, 2024](https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/)
 16. Health**4.7%**
 17. Holding
 18. without health insurance, 2025 (United States 8.4%) [Census Bureau, ACS 2025](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2025.B27001)
 19. Livelihood**13.8%**
 20. At risk
 21. below the poverty line, 2025 (United States 11.8%) [Census Bureau, ACS 2025](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2025.B17001)

### Where the poverty line falls hardest

Share of people below the poverty line in each of New York’s 62 counties, 2020–2024.
[Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B17001)

 * Under 10%
 * 10 to 12.5%
 * 12.5 to 15%
 * 15 to 20%
 * 20% and over

Highest: Bronx, 27.8%. Lowest: Nassau, 5.4%. Statewide in 2025: 13.8%.

All 62 counties

 1.  Bronx**27.8%**
 2.  Kings**19.1%**
 3.  Cattaraugus**19.1%**
 4.  Broome**18.5%**
 5.  Franklin**18.2%**
 6.  Chautauqua**17.4%**
 7.  St. Lawrence**16.9%**
 8.  New York**16.5%**
 9.  Tompkins**16.4%**
 10. Oswego**16.3%**
 11. Chemung**16.3%**
 12. Rockland**16.2%**
 13. Allegany**16.2%**
 14. Sullivan**15.9%**
 15. Oneida**15.5%**
 16. Schuyler**14.8%**
 17. Ulster**14.6%**
 18. Montgomery**14.6%**
 19. Delaware**14.4%**
 20. Erie**13.9%**
 21. Onondaga**13.8%**
 22. Steuben**13.8%**
 23. Clinton**13.7%**
 24. Jefferson**13.7%**
 25. Monroe**13.6%**
 26. Niagara**13.5%**
 27. Cayuga**13.5%**
 28. Seneca**13.5%**
 29. Herkimer**13.4%**
 30. Tioga**13.4%**
 31. Schenectady**13.3%**
 32. Fulton**13.1%**
 33. Albany**13.0%**
 34. Queens**12.9%**
 35. Cortland**12.8%**
 36. Orleans**12.7%**
 37. Yates**12.7%**
 38. Orange**12.6%**
 39. Otsego**12.5%**
 40. Lewis**12.3%**
 41. Columbia**12.1%**
 42. Rensselaer**11.8%**
 43. Chenango**11.8%**
 44. Schoharie**11.7%**
 45. Richmond**11.5%**
 46. Wayne**11.4%**
 47. Essex**11.2%**
 48. Wyoming**11.1%**
 49. Livingston**11.1%**
 50. Washington**10.7%**
 51. Genesee**10.6%**
 52. Hamilton**10.6%**
 53. Warren**10.5%**
 54. Madison**10.0%**
 55. Greene**9.9%**
 56. Ontario**9.0%**
 57. Westchester**9.0%**
 58. Dutchess**8.4%**
 59. Putnam**7.1%**
 60. Saratoga**7.1%**
 61. Suffolk**6.4%**
 62. Nassau**5.4%**

03 · Solutions

## Solutions for Perfect New York, in order.

Shelter first, because every other standard is harder to reach without a home.

 1.  Phase 1Binding
 2.  
     ### Shelter
     
 3.  The challenge145,560 New Yorkers had no home on one night in January 2025. [HUD, 2025](https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/homelessness-falls-statewide-rises-many-new-york-regions)
     What Perfect Nations advisesIssue a State housing bond whose investors are repaid
     in part on outcomes: each household moved from shelter into a permanent home, 
     building on New York’s own Pay for Success record. With super intelligence, New
     York can match every family in shelter to a vacant or buildable home and report
     each outcome as it happens.
 4.  Phase 2At risk
 5.  
     ### Food and livelihood
     
 6.  The challenge14.0% of households were food insecure in 2022–2024, and 13.8% of
     New Yorkers lived below the poverty line in 2025. [USDA, 2025](https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/113623/ERR-358.pdf)
     What Perfect Nations advisesBack a statewide social bond for food and income programs,
     priced off the State’s credit and paid against measured falls in hunger, county
     by county, starting with the Bronx. With super intelligence, the State can see
     where families are falling behind and reach them before they do.
 7.  Phase 2At risk
 8.  
     ### Education
     
 9.  The challenge31% of fourth graders read at the NAEP Proficient level in 2024. 
     [NAEP, 2024](https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/)What
     Perfect Nations advisesFund early reading through an outcome contract that pays
     only for measured gains, as the State first did for jobs in 2013. With super intelligence,
     every child can have a reading tutor that adapts to them, in their own language.

Phase 3, hold the line: health coverage (4.7% uninsured), with water and energy 
measured next.

04 · Capital already committed

## New York already finances at scale.

Four instruments on record that a Perfect New York can build on.

 * $21.0bn
 * 
   ### MTA green bonds2016–2025
   
 * Climate Bonds Certified green bonds issued by the Metropolitan Transportation
   Authority since 2016. [MTA, 2025](https://www.mta.info/document/138546)
 * $4.2bn
 * 
   ### The Environmental Bond Act2022
   
 * Bonds for clean water, clean air and green jobs, approved by New York voters 
   on 8 November 2022. [State Environmental Conservation](https://dec.ny.gov/about/clean-water-clean-air-and-green-jobs-environmental-bond-act)
 * nearly$2.7bn
 * 
   ### NY Green BankDecember 2025
   
 * Committed to clean energy since 2013 by the State’s own green investment fund,
   supporting up to $10.4bn of projects. [NY Green Bank, 2026](https://greenbank.ny.gov/-/media/Project/Greenbank/Files/NYGB_Quarterly_Report_PSC_Dec_2025_260226.pdf)
 * $13.5m
 * 
   ### Pay for Success2013
   
 * The nation’s first state-led Pay for Success project: private investors paid 
   upfront for job training for formerly incarcerated New Yorkers; the State repays
   on results. [State Budget; Harvard GPL](https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy20/exec/agencies/appropData/PayForSuccessContingencyReserve.html)

Work with us

## Design Perfect New York with us.

State leaders, treasurers and investors: start with a briefing.

 [Request a briefing](https://perfectnations.org/contact/?about=briefing&country=New%20York)
[The ReDesign Studio](https://perfectnations.org/design-studio/) [All 50 states](https://perfectnations.org/50-states/)

Sources (16)

 1.  U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, GDP by state, 2025, current dollars (updated
     30 September 2026). [bea.gov](https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state)
 2.  Office of the New York State Comptroller, State Pension Fund Valued at $309.7 
     Billion at End of First Quarter, 17 August 2026. [osc.ny.gov](https://www.osc.ny.gov/press/releases/2026/08/dinapoli-state-pension-fund-valued-3097-billion-end-first-quarter)
 3.  U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2025 Point-in-Time count, in
     Office of the New York State Comptroller, Homelessness Falls Statewide, But Rises
     in Many New York Regions. [osc.ny.gov](https://www.osc.ny.gov/reports/homelessness-falls-statewide-rises-many-new-york-regions)
 4.  Adirondack Park Agency, The Adirondack Park. [apa.ny.gov](https://apa.ny.gov/about/park.html)
 5.  New York City Department of Environmental Protection, Water Supply. [nyc.gov](https://www.nyc.gov/site/dep/water/water-supply.page)
 6.  New York Power Authority, Major Authority Units 2024, section 12. [nypa.gov](https://www.nypa.gov/-/media/nypa/documents/document-library/governance/2024-nypa-major-authority-units.pdf)
 7.  U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates, 1 July 2025. [census.gov](https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-state-total.html)
 8.  U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Household Food Security
     in the United States in 2024 (ERR-358), table 4, average 2022–2024. [ers.usda.gov](https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/113623/ERR-358.pdf)
 9.  National Center for Education Statistics, NAEP 2024 Reading, grade 4, at or above
     NAEP Proficient, public schools (NAEP Data Service). [nationsreportcard.gov](https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/reading/2024/g4_8/)
 10. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year, table B27001 (civilian
     noninstitutionalized population). [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2025.B27001)
 11. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2025 1-year, table B17001. [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT1Y2025.B17001)
 12. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year, table B17001, 
     New York counties. [data.census.gov](https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B17001)
 13. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Climate Bond Certification compliance disclosure,
     MTA green bond issuances (total $20,969,568,671). [mta.info](https://www.mta.info/document/138546)
 14. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Clean Water, Clean Air
     and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022. [dec.ny.gov](https://dec.ny.gov/about/clean-water-clean-air-and-green-jobs-environmental-bond-act)
 15. NY Green Bank, Metrics, Reporting and Evaluation, Quarterly Report No. 46 (through
     31 December 2025). [greenbank.ny.gov](https://greenbank.ny.gov/-/media/Project/Greenbank/Files/NYGB_Quarterly_Report_PSC_Dec_2025_260226.pdf)
 16. New York State Division of the Budget, Pay for Success Contingency Reserve (first
     state-led project); Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, New York
     State Pay for Success Project ($13.5 million raised). [budget.ny.gov](https://www.budget.ny.gov/pubs/archive/fy20/exec/agencies/appropData/PayForSuccessContingencyReserve.html)·
     [govlab.hks.harvard.edu](https://govlab.hks.harvard.edu/files/govlabs/files/new_york_state_pfs_reincarceration.pdf)

Every figure carries its source and year. Where no primary figure is published, 
the standard is shown as not yet measured. Perfect Nations® is an independent advisory
firm; the institutions named are cited for reference and do not endorse this blueprint.