New York City currently has about 8.5–8.6 million residents, and the entire state of New York has roughly 19.5–20 million people as of the mid‑2020s.

Quick Scoop

How many people live in New York City?

Most recent city planning and census–based estimates put New York City’s population at about 8.48 million people as of mid‑2024 , and it has been edging upward again after the pandemic years. That means by early 2026, it’s reasonable to think of the city as home to “around 8.5 million” people.

A simple way to picture it:

  • The city lost people during 2020–2021, especially from Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.
  • Since then, it has added tens of thousands of residents back, driven largely by international migration and reduced out‑migration.
  • It is still slightly below the all‑time high of about 8.8 million reached around 2020, but the gap is shrinking.

How many people live in the state of New York?

If you meant the state of New York rather than just the city, the number is much larger. Current demographic estimates put New York State’s population at about 19.5–20 million people in 2026. The state total has been relatively flat or slightly declining over the past few years, even while the city itself has recently ticked back up.

City vs. state at a glance

Here’s a quick way to keep it straight:

  • New York City: about 8.5 million people.
  • New York State (including NYC): about 19.5–20 million people.

So roughly 4 in 10 New Yorkers in the entire state live in New York City itself.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.