Socioeconomic Factors

The Socioeconomics of the Bronx

• Economic disadvantages are prevalent in areas like West Farms and Crotona, where one-third of residents live in poverty. These communities, predominantly composed of Hispanic (60%) and Black (26%) residents, face challenges in affording healthy food options. 

• The lack of jobs in the Bronx creates an inability for families to provide for their families and to afford healthy foods. 

• This leads to only having access to cheap and unhealthy foods, such as foods that decrease quality of life and cause the prevalence of nutrition-related diseases like diabetes, obesity, malnutrition, and hypertension.

• According to nyc.gov, the Bronx has the highest percentage of neighborhood poverty at 26.5% compared to Manhattan at 15.6% as of 2022. 

• This is the percentage of households with incomes below the poverty level. Households without sufficient resources are often deprived of access to items such as health care and good-quality housing that are needed to maintain good health. 

• The Bronx is also the borough with the lowest health insurance rate at 85.8%.

• “In South Bronx, bodegas outnumber supermarkets 25 to 1. It’s as bad as 37 to 1 in some neighborhoods like Belmont and Tremont. 

• A study showed that although 91% of the bodegas sold fresh produce, 20% sold nothing besides onions and potatoes, and 13% sold no fresh fruit. The top three items sold in bodegas were sugary drinks, alcohol, and tobacco. 

• One-third of Bronx residents receive SNAP benefits, which are not accepted everywhere and cannot be used for hot foods.

A side-by-side comparison of the income distribution of households in Manhattan and the Bronx.

Source: NYU Furman Center

• Race and ethnicity

  • New York City (2024): [4]

    • White alone (not Hispanic or Latino): 31.3% 

    • Hispanic or Latino: 28.4%

    • Black alone: 22.7%

    • Asian alone 14.6%

  • Manhattan (2018): [3]

    • White: 46.8%

    • Hispanic: 25.9%

    • Black: 12.5%

    • Asian 12.2%

  • Bronx (2018): [3]

    • White: 8.9%

    • Hispanic: 56.4%

    • Black: 28.9%

    • Asian: 3.6%

A side-by-side comparison of the race and ethnicity of individuals in Manhattan and the Bronx.

Source: NYU Furman Center

• Overweight or obesity rate for adults (2022) [5]

  • New York City: 25.4%, or 1,714,000 individuals

  • Manhattan: 19.5%, or 266,000 individuals

  • Bronx: 34.3%, or 363,000 individuals

• Food stamp program participation by percentage [6]

  • New York City: 20.5% of individuals, 29.9% of households

  • Manhattan: 14.9% of individuals, 20.2% of households

  • Bronx: 34.8% of individuals, 51.4% of households

• Percent food insecure population (2018) [6]

  • New York City: 14.4%

  • Manhattan: 13.3%

  • Bronx: 16.1%

Food security status distribution among NYC adults residing in households with incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty line. While this data is limited to households under a certain income level, levels of food security are still quite different between the two boroughs.

Source: NYC.gov (The Official Website of the City of New York)

Why is there such a difference in racial makeup in Manhattan vs. the Bronx? A Brief History.

• In 1950, the South Bronx (a location historically known as a place for working-class families) went from being 2/3 non-Hispanic white to 2/3 black or Puerto Rican in 1960, a phenomenon known as white flight. 

• Later in the 20th century, the South Bronx developed an image as a poverty-ridden area. 

  • Some factors that contributed to this notion include white flight, landlord abandonment, and the construction of the Cross Bronx Expressway.

• The Cross Bronx Expressway was completed in 1963. Scholars believe it to be a factor catalyzing the decay of the Bronx in the 70s and 80s. It cut through the middle of the South Bronx, displacing thousands of residents and many local businesses.

• One factor that contributed to a decline in the Bronx was policies that required children to be transported into other school districts to racially balance schools. Worried parents would relocate their families to the suburbs. 

• Another factor was rent control, where regulations kept the rent of homes low, providing landlords no incentive to invest in their properties, speeding up the decline of buildings, and increasing vacancies. [8]

• In the 1970s, the Bronx population declined from 1.472 million to 1.169 million, primarily due to white flight. In the years spanning 2007 and 2014, 30,000 white people left the Bronx. [9]

 Policy Factors

 Physical Factors

The Backbone of the Kitchen: How Transportation and Infrastructure Shape Food Access 

• Transit Infrastructure Limits Food Access

Subway and bus coverage is critical for food accessibility, yet the Bronx faces significant gaps compared to Manhattan. While Manhattan benefits from dense, reliable transit networks close to most residential neighborhoods, the Bronx has fewer express options and longer commutes. This makes traveling to grocery stores offering affordable, healthy food burdensome and time-consuming for residents without private vehicles.

• Transit-Oriented Development Bias

Investment in transit hubs often supports commercial and tourist-centric areas (e.g. Midtown), not underserved residential ones

• Urban Planning and Zoning

Supermarkets in Manhattan are often incentivized through mixed-use zoning and commercial tax benefits.

Parts of the Bronx are zoned more heavily for industrial use of have disincentives that make it hard for large grocery stores to open

• Historical Redlining and Disinvestment 

Redlining policies from the 1930s shaped long-term underinvestment in the Bronx

These areas often received less investment in roads, transit, and food related infrastructure (like cold storage, wholesale distribution centers, etc)

• Food Swamps vs Food Deserts 

The Bronx isn’t just a food desert (lacking grocery stores) – it’s often a food swamp (areas saturated with fast food and convenience stores) 

Fast food is more accessible via foot traffic and often located near bus stops and subway stations- doesn’t support long term health.

Together, these transportation and infrastructure factors form an often invisible but powerful web that restricts food access. Addressing food insecurity requires rethinking how we build, connect, and invest in our cities, ensuring that all communities have a seat at the table.