Operating Expense Benchmarks
What new NYC condos budget per unit for staffing, insurance, management, elevators and every other operating expense, from the first-year budget (Schedule B) in 635 offering plans accepted Oct 19, 2021–Aug 24, 2026.
$9,385 per unit a year
Average total first-year operating expenses per residential unit (median $6,318). By category, the average among buildings whose budget has that line:
| Category | Average per unit / year | Buildings |
|---|---|---|
| StaffingSuperintendent, doorman, concierge, porters and cleaning, whether on the building's payroll (wages, payroll taxes, benefits, the resident manager's unit) or through a service company | $3,978 | 31049% |
| Amenities & groundsGym, pool and other amenity operations, landscaping, snow and refuse removal | $1,899 | 112% |
| Service contracts (not itemized)A single service contracts line that doesn't say what it covers | $1,729 | 30748% |
| InsuranceProperty, liability and other building policies | $1,388 | 634100% |
| Management feeThe managing agent's fee | $1,311 | 33052% |
| Electricity, gas & heatCommon area electricity, gas, heating, cooling and hot water | $1,046 | 62198% |
| Water & sewerWater charges and sewer rents | $972 | 63099% |
| Repairs & suppliesRepairs, maintenance and supplies (budgets usually group them in one line) | $809 | 62899% |
| Reserve fundContributions to the reserve for future repairs and replacements | $771 | 52883% |
| ElevatorElevator maintenance contract and inspections | $741 | 518% |
| OtherLines that fit none of the above | $667 | 6410% |
| Legal & auditLegal, audit, accounting and other professional fees | $592 | 63199% |
| Fire safetyFire alarm and its monitoring, sprinklers, standpipes, extinguishers | $335 | 11718% |
| ContingencyContingency allowance | $332 | 39162% |
| Admin, phone & officeAdministration, office, telephone and monitored lines, bank charges, violation monitoring | $159 | 26842% |
| Franchise & income taxesThe condominium's own franchise and income taxes | $157 | 10517% |
| Pest controlExterminating | $135 | 223% |
Compare operating expenses Pro
List every building over or under a dollar amount per unit, or see how one building's budget stacks up against its peers.
Example
Insurance over $1,500 a unit in Brooklyn
122 buildings of the 476 Brooklyn budgets with a line for insurance
Brooklyn average: $1,247 a unit a year (median $1,010).
Example
$6,625/unit a year · 10% below the average of its peers
Compared with 131 buildings: Brooklyn · 1–10 units · Rehab · no front desk named.
Is your building's budget in line?
Compare any building with its peers, expense by expense, or set a dollar amount and get the full list of buildings over or under it.
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Averages by group
Average first-year budget per unit, per year, for the 10 largest expenses. Pick how to group the buildings.
| Category | Manhattan76 buildings | Brooklyn476 buildings | Queens79 buildings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | $27,490 | $7,097 | $5,955 |
| Staffing | $14,595 | $1,768 | $1,428 |
| Amenities & grounds | $3,621 | $464 | — |
| Service contracts (not itemized) | $4,133 | $1,372 | $876 |
| Insurance | $2,825 | $1,247 | $865 |
| Management fee | $1,909 | $1,329 | $711 |
| Electricity, gas & heat | $3,727 | $666 | $759 |
| Water & sewer | $1,153 | $967 | $838 |
| Repairs & supplies | $1,950 | $676 | $535 |
| Reserve fund | $1,377 | $711 | $582 |
| Elevator | $1,235 | $698 | $390 |
Not shown: Bronx (1 building), Staten Island (3 buildings), too few for an average.
| Category | 1–10 units462 buildings | 11–25 units95 buildings | 26–50 units38 buildings | 51 or more units40 buildings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | $7,932 | $12,439 | $14,748 | $13,812 |
| Staffing | $2,235 | $5,494 | $7,164 | $5,613 |
| Service contracts (not itemized) | $1,825 | $1,770 | $1,061 | $1,475 |
| Insurance | $1,392 | $1,388 | $1,476 | $1,258 |
| Management fee | $1,621 | $1,078 | $965 | $700 |
| Electricity, gas & heat | $721 | $1,554 | $2,313 | $2,375 |
| Water & sewer | $999 | $920 | $821 | $925 |
| Repairs & supplies | $780 | $929 | $854 | $813 |
| Reserve fund | $766 | $899 | $638 | $686 |
| Elevator | $1,065 | $383 | $141 | — |
| Other | $480 | $639 | $302 | $1,086 |
— fewer than 5 buildings in that group have the expense.
Methodology
Source. The first-year budget (Schedule B) in each offering plan: the expense lines as the sponsor printed them. These are the sponsor's projections for the first year of operation, not actual costs, and later years usually cost more.
Buildings. The same 635 buildings as the common charges benchmarks: NYC condominium plans accepted Oct 19, 2021–Aug 24, 2026 with a single first-year budget and a Schedule A unit table, less 5 budgets whose lines don't add up to the stated total. Each building counts once.
Per unit. A line's yearly amount, times the residential units' share of the budget (when the building also has commercial, parking or storage units), divided by the residential units. The total is the whole budget the same way, so it matches the common charges page (×12).
Categories. Each of the 6,263 expense lines goes into one category by its name. Budgets group items differently: when a budget folds the elevator contract or exterminating into one "service contracts" line, that amount counts under Service contracts (not itemized), not under Elevator or Pest control. A building counts toward a category's average only if its budget has a line for it with an amount, so the average says what buildings that budget the item spend; the Buildings column says how many do.
Front desk. A building has a front desk when its budget lines or budget notes name a doorman, concierge, front desk or lobby attendant. A virtual or remote doorman doesn't count. A budget that doesn't mention its staff is read as no front desk, so a few staffed buildings may be missed.
Averages. Means across buildings, shown from 5 buildings up. One unusual budget can move a small group's average; the Pro comparison also shows the median.
Benchmarks. The Pro list compares each building's per-unit amount for the chosen expense with the dollar amount you set. A building whose budget has no line for that expense isn't listed either way.
- Staffing
- Superintendent, doorman, concierge, porters and cleaning, whether on the building's payroll (wages, payroll taxes, benefits, the resident manager's unit) or through a service company.
- Management fee
- The managing agent's fee.
- Insurance
- Property, liability and other building policies.
- Repairs & supplies
- Repairs, maintenance and supplies (budgets usually group them in one line).
- Elevator
- Elevator maintenance contract and inspections.
- Fire safety
- Fire alarm and its monitoring, sprinklers, standpipes, extinguishers.
- Pest control
- Exterminating.
- Electricity, gas & heat
- Common area electricity, gas, heating, cooling and hot water.
- Water & sewer
- Water charges and sewer rents.
- Service contracts (not itemized)
- A single service contracts line that doesn't say what it covers.
- Legal & audit
- Legal, audit, accounting and other professional fees.
- Admin, phone & office
- Administration, office, telephone and monitored lines, bank charges, violation monitoring.
- Amenities & grounds
- Gym, pool and other amenity operations, landscaping, snow and refuse removal.
- Franchise & income taxes
- The condominium's own franchise and income taxes.
- Reserve fund
- Contributions to the reserve for future repairs and replacements.
- Contingency
- Contingency allowance.
- Other
- Lines that fit none of the above.