Lower East Side & Chinatown
Community district in New York City
Borough: Manhattan
Open Lower East Side & Chinatown on the mapThe map shows every boundary here, from council and legislative districts to school boards, with what’s nearby. Tap any address in it for its own card.
About Manhattan
The island between the Hudson and East rivers: downtown, Midtown, the Upper East and West Sides, Harlem and Upper Manhattan.
Names you’ll hear here
- East Village
What stands out
- Among the most affordable rents in Manhattan (median $1,410/mo)
Living here
- Housing
- Lower housing cost. Median home $840K · renters pay $1,410/moSurvey estimates for 2020–2024, not current prices, for the whole community district. Rent is what renting households pay, utilities included, counting rent-stabilized and subsidized homes, so it sits well below what a new lease costs. Use them to compare districts, not to budget.
- To Penn Station
- Under 30 min. About 29 min by transit, weekday morning
- Getting to work
- Mostly transit, walk or bike. 9% drive · 55% transit · 33% walk or bike
- Households
- Mostly renters. 83% rent
- Tree canopy
- 10–20%. 16% of the land is under treesSatellite land cover, 2021 (ESA WorldCover, 10 m).
- Home types
- Detached 1% · 2–19 units 30% · 20+ units 69%
- Built
- 1939 or earlier 43% · 1940–79 39% · 1980–99 8% · 2000 or later 9%
- Ages
- Under 15 9% · 15–24 15% · 25–44 33% · 45–64 23% · 65+ 20%
- Language at home
- English only 57% · Chinese 20% · Spanish 16%English only, or the language besides English that each person 5 or older speaks at home. For tracts the Census groups some languages: Bengali, Hindi and Urdu are among “other Indo-European”.
- Recent immigrants
- 8% born abroad, came to the US 2010 or laterShare of residents, from the 2020–2024 survey.
American Community Survey 2020–2024 and MTA schedules, Lower East Side & Chinatown. Tiers compare the 59 community districts.