How much did New York City spend on sheltering migrants in 2023 and 2024?
Executive summary
New York City’s official accounting and oversight reports show that the city’s spending to shelter newly arrived asylum seekers in Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 was roughly $1.4–1.5 billion, and in FY 2024 was roughly $3.7–3.8 billion, though different city and state offices report slightly different figures depending on whether they cite commitments, liquidations, or budgeted amounts [1] [2] [3]. These headline totals mask technical differences—commitments vs. cash paid, forecasts vs. actuals, and intergovernmental cost-sharing—that explain most of the variation across sources [1] [4] [5].
1. What the headline numbers are and why they differ
Oversight reporting from the New York City Comptroller lists actual city spending for asylum seeker shelter and services as $1.41 billion in FY2023 and $3.70 billion in FY2024 [1], while the New York State Comptroller’s tracker records $1.47 billion for FY2023 and $3.75 billion for FY2024—differences explained by timing and whether the figure is a commitment or a recorded expenditure [1] [2]. Media summaries and city press releases sometimes use rounded, projected, or budgeted amounts—Mayor’s office statements in 2023 cited $1.45 billion spent in FY2023 and forecast multi‑year liabilities that were higher than actuals—so distinguishing between “spent,” “committed,” and “budgeted/forecast” is critical [4] [6].
2. Commitments vs. liquidations: the Comptroller’s deeper accounting
The Comptroller’s analysis highlights that while FY2023 commitments were about $1.47 billion as the fiscal year closed, only $988.5 million had been liquidated (actually paid) by October 2024, leaving significant open payables—principally at DHS and NYC Health + Hospitals—showing why different reports can cite distinct totals depending on the accounting moment they use [1]. That office also aggregates across agencies and counts all asylum-seeker services; its $3.70 billion FY2024 number is presented as “spent” within its fiscal accounting framework [1].
3. City forecasts and budgeted figures—what officials were warning about
In mid‑2023 city officials warned the fiscal impact could reach roughly $12 billion over FY2023–FY2025 without policy changes, and issued frequent monthly and annual forecasts—e.g., the Mayor’s office reported $292 million spent in July 2023 and projected billions more for FY24 and FY25—but those were forward‑looking estimates rooted in population growth scenarios rather than reconciled year‑end totals [4] [6]. The FY2024 adopted budget included billions for migrant response—public reporting cited a $3.76 billion FY2024 allocation—so some media pieces conflate budgeted appropriations with actual expenditures [3].
4. Why per‑diem rates, contracts, and hotel conversions matter
A major driver of high shelter costs was the emergency use of hotels and high per‑diem contracts: per‑diem averages reported by the administration and examined by the Comptroller ranged in the low‑to‑mid‑hundreds per household per night (administration reported per‑diem around $363; peak reported per‑diem near $394), and large multi‑year hotel contracts were central to FY2023–FY2024 spending profiles [7] [8] [9]. Independent observers and advocates pointed out alternatives—e.g., voucher programs—that could materially reduce annual shelter outlays, underscoring that policy choices drove much of the fiscal trajectory [10].
5. Bottom line and limits of available reporting
The defensible bottom line from official oversight sources is that New York City spent about $1.4–1.5 billion on asylum‑seeker shelter and services in FY2023 and about $3.7–3.8 billion in FY2024, with the spread in published figures explained by whether a source reports commitments, liquidations, or budgeted allocations and by evolving state and federal cost‑sharing moves [1] [2] [5]. This analysis relies on city and state comptroller data, mayoral statements, and independent reporting; where records do not reconcile line‑by‑line in the sources provided, this account does not assert additional undisclosed adjustments or offsets beyond those reports [1] [4].