Where to Check Current Listings
Rent totals here are drawn from index data, not a live feed, so treat them as a budget anchor rather than a list of open units. For current inventory with photos and exact addresses, search Yonkers directly on a marketplace and filter by the price range and neighborhood this page identifies below. Inventory turns over daily in a market with 600-plus active Yonkers listings at any given time, so a number accurate this week can shift by next week.
What Rent Costs Beyond the Sticker Price
Ask two listing sites for “the average rent in Yonkers” and you’ll get two different numbers, because each pulls from a different slice of inventory and defines “average” differently.
Base rent is rarely the full number due at signing:
| Fee type | Typical range | Who pays it, and when | Legal cap or status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security deposit | Up to one month’s rent | Tenant, at lease signing | Capped at one month’s rent statewide, General Obligations Law ยง7-108 |
| Application / background-check fee | Up to $20 | Tenant, before a lease is offered | Capped at $20, or the actual cost if lower, per the 2019 tenant protection law |
| Broker fee (landlord’s agent) | One month’s rent to 15% of the annual lease | Tenant, in most Yonkers listings that use a broker | Not covered by the FARE Act, which applies only inside NYC’s five boroughs |
| Institutional guarantor fee | 40% to 110% of one month’s rent, one time | Tenant, only if income or credit falls short | No statutory cap; set by the guarantor company |
The broker-fee line is the one that surprises people moving from New York City; see Your Rights below for what the FARE Act does and doesn’t cover here.
What’s the most a Yonkers landlord can legally charge as a security deposit? One month’s rent, no matter the unit type or lease length, under the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act. A landlord who charges a separate pet deposit or “move-in fee” on top of that is charging you an illegal second deposit.
Yonkers Neighborhoods by Price and Train Access
All four Yonkers stops on Metro-North’s Hudson Line, Yonkers, Ludlow, Glenwood, and Greystone, sit in the same fare zone, so the neighborhood you pick changes your rent far more than it changes your commute cost.
| Neighborhood | Typical 1BR asking rent | Nearest Hudson Line stop (zone) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodstock Manor | $1,750 | Yonkers (Zone 3) | Among the lowest asking rents in the city |
| Downtown Yonkers | $2,491 | Yonkers (Zone 3) | Walking distance to the station and waterfront |
| Getty Square | $2,575 | Yonkers (Zone 3) | The city’s civic and retail core |
| Ludlow Park | $2,795 | Ludlow (Zone 3) | |
| Northwest Yonkers | $3,322 | Greystone / Glenwood (Zone 3) | Highest 1BR asking rent in the city |
Rent figures: Rent.com neighborhood data. Fare zones: MTA fare schedule.
A one-bedroom in Northwest Yonkers costs roughly $1,570 more a month than the same size unit in Woodstock Manor, nearly double, while both sit in the identical Metro-North fare zone: the commute-cost difference between the cheapest and priciest Yonkers neighborhoods is zero.
A monthly Zone 3 pass to Grand Central runs $243.50 under Metro-North’s current fare schedule, with a single peak one-way ticket at $12.50 and off-peak at $9.25.
The ride itself takes about 33 to 40 minutes from Yonkers station to Grand Central, depending on the train, per the Hudson Line schedule.
Nationally, asking rents tend to bottom out from roughly November through March and peak over the summer moving season, with about a 5% gap between the cheapest and priciest months, per Experian’s analysis of rental data. No Yonkers-specific seasonal index turned up in this research, so treat the national pattern as a rough, directional guide until Yonkers-specific data becomes available.
Is it cheaper to live near the train or drive into the city? Driving avoids the Metro-North fare but adds parking, tolls on routes like the Saw Mill River or Cross County parkways, and rush-hour time on I-87. For a daily Manhattan commute, an unlimited monthly Zone 3 rail pass at $243.50 usually beats fuel, tolls, and Manhattan parking combined.
Will You Qualify? Income and Screening Criteria
Forty times the monthly rent in gross annual income is the New York City screening convention most renters have heard of, with a guarantor expected to clear 80 times the rent if the applicant falls short (StreetEasy). That figure is a New York City market convention, not a statute, and none of the sources checked for this page publish an equivalent standard multiple specifically for Yonkers or wider Westchester landlords. Building-by-building and management-company practice varies outside the city, so ask the specific income multiple a listing’s management company uses before you apply, rather than assuming the NYC number travels with you.
If your income falls short, the same guarantor services active in New York City, paid at 40% to 110% of one month’s rent as a one-time, non-refundable fee (PandaGuarantee), typically also cover Westchester listings; confirm which providers, if any, a given landlord accepts before you rely on one.
How much income do I need to qualify for a Yonkers apartment? There’s no single published rule for Yonkers landlords. The New York City convention of 40 times the monthly rent in gross annual income is a useful benchmark to prepare for, but confirm the actual threshold with each building’s management company, since it varies.
Your Rights as a Renter in Yonkers
New York’s Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 caps the security deposit at one month’s rent statewide, Yonkers included, and requires landlords to return it, or an itemized statement of what was withheld, within 14 days of move-out (Rent Guidelines Board). A landlord who misses that window forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit.
The Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act eliminated the broker-fee cost for tenants inside New York City’s five boroughs starting June 11, 2025 (DCWP). Yonkers sits in Westchester County, outside the FARE Act’s reach, so a landlord’s broker there can still charge the tenant directly, typically one month’s rent to 15% of the annual lease, unless the tenant negotiates otherwise or the landlord absorbs the cost.
Application and background-check fees are capped at $20, or the actual cost of the check if lower, and the fee must be waived if you supply your own report from the past 30 days.
Do I need to pay a broker fee in Yonkers if I’m used to NYC’s FARE Act rules? Possibly, yes. The FARE Act only reaches listings inside the five boroughs. A Yonkers landlord’s broker can still bill the tenant directly for representing the landlord, so ask upfront who the agent represents and who is expected to pay before you tour a unit.
Avoiding Rental Scams in Yonkers
Scammers copy legitimate Yonkers listings, repost them at a lower price with new contact information, and collect a deposit for units they don’t control, a pattern New York’s Department of State has documented directly (NY DOS Consumer Alert). State guidance is specific about payment method: never wire money, use a prepaid debit card, or pay through a cash app for a deposit, and never pay anything beyond the $20 application fee before you’ve toured the unit and signed a lease.
- Verify the agent’s license. Search the name on the Department of State’s eAccessNY database before you send any payment.
- Reverse-image search the listing photos. The same photos turning up under a different address or rent is a documented pattern in New York’s scam alerts.
- Confirm the address is genuinely for rent. Search it independently; duplicate listings at the same address with different owners or prices are a warning sign.
- Pay by check or card, never wire transfer. A landlord or broker who insists on an untraceable payment method before you’ve seen the unit isn’t one you should pay.
Is it safe to find Yonkers apartments on Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist? Those platforms carry more scam listings than licensed marketplaces because anyone can post without a verified broker license. Use the same checks either way, license lookup, reverse-image search, no payment before a tour, but treat unlicensed peer-to-peer platforms with extra caution before sending any money.
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