Queens Long-Term Rentals Yield 3.6%, Short-Term Rentals Banned

Estimates for a typical 3-bedroom house. Short-term rental is not available to investors in this market.

A 3.6% gross yield on a $992,000 median 3-bedroom house means Queens is an appreciation play, not a cash flow market. Investors here accept thin current returns in exchange for long-run New York land value.

Short-Term Rentals Are Effectively Banned in Queens, NY

New York City's Local Law 18 (2023) shut the door on investor short-term rentals across Queens (Queens County) and the rest of the five boroughs. Entire-home rentals under 30 days are prohibited for non-resident owners, hosts must register with the Office of Special Enforcement, must be physically present during stays, and cannot host more than two guests at a time. For anyone buying a Queens property as a pure investment, Airbnb is not a legal strategy. The available nights figure for investor short-term rental in Queens is zero.

That leaves long-term letting, medium-term furnished rentals of 30 days or more, or owner-occupier house-hacking as the only compliant paths. This article models the long-term rental path because it is the only one an absentee investor can legally operate at scale. Readers considering owner-occupied short-term stays should check the city's registration portal directly; the numbers here do not model that scenario.

Queens, NY Suburb-Level Yields Range From Around 4% to Nearly 7%

Long-term yields vary across Queens' 63 ZIP codes. Outer-Queens suburbs with lower sale prices deliver the strongest cash-on-cash returns, while waterfront and premium-school districts trade yield for appreciation exposure.

Rego Park (11374) currently leads the ranking at 6.8%, driven by a sub-$600K entry price for a 3-bedroom house combined with strong tenant demand. By contrast, Long Island City and Astoria waterfront ZIPs can exceed $1.5M for a 3-bed, pushing gross yields below 3% before costs. These are averages per suburb; your specific bedroom count and property type may differ, see suburb-level detail in the dashboard.

View Queens in the dashboard → Free preview · every bedroom count and property type

Operating Costs Leave Queens Long-Term Landlords With 1.4% Net Yield

Annual operating costs for a Queens long-term rental come in around $20,000, compressing the 3.6% gross return down to roughly 1.4% net before mortgage. The main line items on a typical 3-bedroom house:

• Property tax: approximately $8,000 (0.9% of value)
• Landlord insurance: around $3,600
• Maintenance and repairs: approximately $8,800

These figures assume self-management (0% fee). If you hire a property manager at roughly 8% of collected rent, subtract that from net income. Queens' property tax rate of 0.9% is lower than many US markets in absolute terms, but on a $992,000 median, the dollar bill is still substantial.

Queens, NY Is a Long-Term Appreciation Play, Not a Cash Flow Market

Queens' 3.6% gross yield sits well below the US national median of 5.3% for 3-bedroom houses. Investors accept that spread because New York City land has historically delivered durable capital growth driven by fixed geography, commuter infrastructure, and persistent housing undersupply across the five boroughs. The investment thesis in Queens is not "this rent pays the mortgage today" but "this property compounds in value while rent covers most carrying costs."

That framing matters for financing. At current mortgage rates, a 25%-down investor on a $992,000 Queens house will likely be cash-flow negative in year one even before maintenance reserves. Appreciation-focused buyers model total return as rent growth plus price growth, not current cash yield, and they typically need a five- to ten-year holding period to justify the entry price.

Higher-Yielding New York Markets Exist Outside Queens

Upstate and Western New York markets offer dramatically higher gross yields than Queens, though with weaker appreciation fundamentals and thinner tenant demand. Secondary New York cities like Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse show gross long-term yields of roughly 7-9% on $200,000-250,000 3-bedroom houses, roughly double Queens but still well below the highest-yielding US small markets.

For investors specifically seeking legal short-term rental operations in New York state, upstate and rural markets are less restricted than New York City, though state and local hotel occupancy taxes still apply. Short-term rental is not a substitute for a Queens long-term letting strategy; it is a geographically separate thesis.

Tax Implications for Queens, NY Investors

Depreciation is the single most important tax lever for a Queens long-term investor. On a $992,000 3-bedroom house with a 65% building allocation, the depreciable basis is roughly $589,000, producing an annual deduction of approximately $21,000 over the 27.5-year schedule. On a property that generates roughly $33,000 in annual rent and about $20,000 in cash operating costs, depreciation typically converts a modest cash profit into a tax-reported paper loss.

Mortgage interest remains fully deductible against rental income on Schedule E, uncapped by the SALT limit that applies to primary residences. That matters in Queens more than in low-tax states because a leveraged investor holding a $992,000 property is paying substantial deductible interest in the early years of amortisation. Combined with depreciation, the paper-loss deduction often offsets state income tax as well.

New York State income tax applies on top of federal, with marginal rates reaching above 10% for high earners including New York City's additional local income tax. That makes paper losses from Queens rentals particularly valuable for high-income investors who can use them to shelter other passive income. A 1031 exchange can defer capital gains indefinitely when rolling into a replacement property, useful for investors who want to rotate out of Queens into higher-yielding markets without a tax event.

Investment Bottom Line for Queens, NY

Queens is a legal long-term-rental-only market for investors. Short-term rental is off the table under Local Law 18 for anyone not owner-occupying, and attempting to work around the restriction exposes owners to fines and delisting. The long-term case rests on appreciation: a 3.6% gross yield and 1.4% net yield do not cover a fully financed mortgage at current rates, so the return thesis depends on rent growth and capital appreciation over a multi-year hold.

Queens suits appreciation-focused investors with equity to put down and patience to hold. It does not suit high-leverage cash-flow buyers or aspiring short-term rental operators. Those investors should look at upstate New York or out-of-state markets with higher yields and friendlier short-term regulation. Explore rental data in the dashboard to see suburb-level breakdowns. New York rental market insights covers the state-wide picture, and our market score methodology and data sources explain how these figures are built. For peer-market comparisons, Long Island Nets Under 1.0% on Rentals: Appreciation Must Do the Heavy Lifting, Bronx Delivers 5.8% Yields, No Short-Term Rental Needed, Manhattan Yields 3.0% Gross, Banking on Appreciation Over Cash Flow, and Brooklyn Delivers 3.3% Yields, No Short-Term Rental Needed cover similar regulatory environments and investment profiles.

Data reflects market conditions as of June 2026.

This information is for educational purposes only and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Regulations and market conditions change frequently. Verify current rules with local authorities before making investment decisions.