New York has a reputation. Everyone tells you it's expensive before you even book the flight, and honestly, they're not wrong. But "expensive" doesn't really tell you anything useful. What you actually want to know before you go is: how much money do I need to bring?
New York is one of my favorite destinations, and I enjoyed that trip more than almost any other I've taken. There's nothing quite like walking into Times Square at night and just standing there for a minute, letting the whole absurd, glowing scale of it hit you.
I went for a week in April 2025, and I tracked every dollar I spent because I wanted to know, honestly, whether the "New York is impossibly expensive" reputation held up. Short answer: it depends entirely on how you travel. Here's what I actually spent, plus the research I did beforehand so you can see how my trip compared to the average.
My Actual Spendings
| Category: | What I Spent |
|---|---|
| Hotel (7 nights) | $980 |
| Food & drink | $310 |
| Subway (7-Day Unlimited MetroCard) | $34 |
| Attractions & shows | $240 |
| Shopping & extras | $180 |
| Total | $1,744 |
Before I left, I'd researched average costs and found that most visitors spend somewhere around $2,500 for a week, based on the travel-cost surveys and trip-tracking sites I checked. I came in well under that mostly because I skipped sit-down dinners more nights than not and used a MetroCard religiously instead of cabs.
Other trip-tracking data I found put the range even wider — anywhere from roughly $900 to $7,700 for a week — which tells you the real answer isn't a single number. It's a range that depends entirely on the choices you make once you land.
How It Breaks Down by Category
Hotels
This is where most of your money goes, and it's where I spent most of mine too. I stayed at a Pod Hotels location in Midtown, a few blocks from Times Square, and paid about $140 a night — on the cheaper end, but well located and clean.
For context, a typical New York hotel room runs around $175 a night on average, with budget two- and three-star options landing closer to $140–$160 and five-star hotels averaging well over $400.
If hotels aren't your thing, hostels are genuinely common in the city. I didn't stay in one, but friends who have tell me a dorm bed runs around $50 a night, ranging from about $20 to $85 depending on the spot.
Food
I rarely spent more than $40 a day on food, and I ate well. Breakfast usually came from a local bakery — a coffee and a pastry for under $8. Lunch was often a slice of pizza ($1–$5 depending on where you go) or dumplings in Chinatown ($8–$15 for a full meal). I splurged on exactly one sit-down dinner the whole week, in Little Italy, which ran me about $65 with drinks.
The average traveler reportedly spends closer to $85–$90 a day on food, but that number includes a lot of restaurant meals I simply skipped. Mixing cheap eats with one nicer dinner is, in my experience, the easiest way to eat well without blowing your budget.
Getting Around
The subway was the best money decision I made the whole trip. A single ride is $2.90, but the 7-Day Unlimited MetroCard covers every subway and bus ride for about $34 — I bought mine at the airport before I'd even found my hotel, and it paid for itself by day three.
Most of Manhattan is also extremely walkable. I probably walked six or seven miles some days without meaning to, just because everything felt close enough to reach on foot.
Sightseeing and Activities
This is where your personal choices matter most, and where I think a lot of first-time visitors overspend. Some of the best things I did all week were free: wandering Central Park, walking the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, and the High Line in the early morning before it got crowded.
I did pay for two things: a ticket to Top of the Rock ($40) and one Broadway show, which I found through the TKTS discount booth in Times Square for about $75 instead of the $150-plus it would've cost at full price.
For reference, museum entry generally runs around $25, observation decks $38–$56, Broadway tickets $50–$200 depending on the seat, and guided walking tours $40–$95.
7 Things That Cost More Than I Expected
- Bottled water — some delis charge $3–$4 for a small bottle
- Coffee, if you're buying it from a sit-down café instead of a bakery
- Broadway tickets bought at face value instead of through TKTS
- Hotel taxes and fees, which aren't always shown in the room price
- Tipping — expected almost everywhere, including counter service in some spots
- Airport transportation into the city (a cab or rideshare from JFK can easily run $70+)
- Sales tax, which adds up fast on shopping
So, What Should You Actually Budget?
Putting it all together, here's a realistic range for one person, one week, based on my trip and the research I did beforehand:
- Tight budget: roughly $900–$1,400 — hostel, cheap eats, subway, mostly free attractions
- Mid-range budget: roughly $1,700–$2,500 — this is where my trip landed, with a modest hotel, a mix of cheap and nice meals, and a couple of paid attractions
- Comfortable budget: $4,000 or more — nicer hotels, more dining out, a Broadway show or two, less walking and more cabs
One thing I'd genuinely recommend: buy the Unlimited MetroCard the moment you land, and don't plan on a sit-down restaurant for every meal. Those two habits alone kept my week from spiraling past what I'd planned to spend.
New York doesn't have to break the bank. It absolutely can, if you let it. But with a bit of planning — and maybe a few of the numbers above — you can have a full week in one of the most exciting cities on earth without the post-vacation credit card panic.
