New Rochelle by the Numbers: Homes, Water, Permit Fees and Costs

Last reviewed 2026-07-25. Journalists, researchers, and community groups are welcome to cite any figure on this page with attribution and a link.

This page collects the public numbers behind a bathroom remodel in New Rochelle and the eight towns around it: what homes are worth and how old they are, what comes out of the tap, what each building department charges for a permit and what the published cost surveys say a bathroom costs. Each table names its source and vintage: Census QuickFacts and the American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals, New York City's 2025 water supply report, fee schedules dated 2024 to 2026, and Remodeling magazine's 2025 Cost vs Value report, still the newest edition when we checked on October 1, 2026.

We use these numbers on every job. A house's age decides whether an asbestos survey and lead-safe work practices come before demolition; its market value is the yardstick for the flood-zone substantial-improvement rule; the fee schedules go into our estimate; and the cost surveys are the published ranges we price against, in writing. For how each rule works, read our permits and inspections guide; for prices by project, see the bathroom cost page.

Home values and households in New Rochelle and the eight towns

New Rochelle's median owner-occupied home is valued at $702,500, above Westchester County's $663,200, while its owner-occupied rate of 53.7% is below the county's 61.8% (QuickFacts, ACS 2020-2024). The towns around it run higher: Rye at $1,819,900, Scarsdale at $1,800,700 and Larchmont at $1,635,500 have the highest medians in the table, and Scarsdale (92.3%) and Pelham Manor (92.2%) are the most owner-occupied. Tuckahoe is the exception, at 42.9% owner-occupied with a $621,300 median. New Rochelle is also growing: the Census estimates 85,864 residents on July 1, 2025, up 7.7% from the 2020 base, against 1.1% for the county.

Two notes on reading the table. The single-year ACS 2024 estimate puts New Rochelle's median value at $762,000, with a margin of error of $60,677; the table stays with the five-year series so every place is measured over the same years. And market value matters in a mapped flood zone: City Code section 111-31 treats an improvement costing 50% or more of the structure's market value as a substantial improvement, which brings the whole house under the flood elevation rules, so we check a property's flood status before we price its bathroom.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts. Population is the 2020 Census count; the other columns are American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, with income in 2024 dollars. A plus sign marks the Census top code. The Mamaroneck town row includes Larchmont and part of the Village of Mamaroneck; the Eastchester town row includes Bronxville and Tuckahoe.

How old New Rochelle's housing is, and what kind it is

Half of New Rochelle's housing units were built in 1955 or earlier, the median in ACS table B25035, against 1959 for the county, and one unit in three (32.5%) dates from 1939 or earlier. Age sets the rules before demolition: Industrial Code Rule 56 calls for an asbestos survey in buildings begun before January 1, 1974, and EPA's lead-safe work rule covers homes built before 1978. The ACS bins stop at 1979, so the 75.9% built by then is the closest Census match to the 1978 lead-paint line, not the same thing. Type matters as much as age: a New Rochelle home is about as likely to sit in a building of 20 or more units (38.1%) as in a detached house (38.1%).

Among owner-occupied homes, 3,772 of 17,024 (22.2%) are in buildings of five or more units, the closest Census measure of co-op and condo owners, since table B25032 does not separate the two. For the towns, ACS table B25035 puts the median year built at 1940 in Larchmont, 1945 in the Town of Mamaroneck, 1953 in the Village of Mamaroneck and 1957 in Rye, and places both Pelham and Pelham Manor in the 1939-or-earlier interval. For Scarsdale, Bronxville, Eastchester's unincorporated area, Tuckahoe and Harrison, the County Planning Department's table of occupied units (ACS 2013-2017) gives 1941, 1939, 1951, 1957 and 1958.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Shares are each count divided by the table total, rounded to one decimal. New Rochelle's housing-unit total has a margin of error of 916 units and its median year built a margin of 2 years.

Water, sewer and climate

New Rochelle's water comes from Veolia Water New York's Rate District 1 (EPA system NY5903444), which also serves Pelham, Pelham Manor, Bronxville, Eastchester and Tuckahoe and draws entirely on New York City's Catskill and Delaware supplies. That water is soft: NYC DEP's 2025 report averages two grains per gallon, and it classes up to 3 grains per gallon as soft. For lead, the district's 90th-percentile result for the 2025-2027 monitoring period is 12.2 parts per billion, under EPA's action level of 15 parts per billion, and the State's 2024 inventory counts 8,008 lead service lines among 32,470 in the district. EPA notes that lead pipes are more likely in homes built before 1986.

EPA's facility registry lists the New Rochelle sewage treatment plant under Clean Water Act permit NY0026697, and a 2025 State law on the County's New Rochelle sanitary sewer district names the city with the Town of Mamaroneck, Larchmont and Pelham Manor. City Code section 242-2 binds every sewer user to the County's Environmental Facilities Ordinance No. 1; the owner must repair the house sewer when the Inspector of Plumbing directs it, and old tile or cement drainpipe that is uncovered must be replaced (section 242-11E). New Rochelle has no weather station, so the climate rows come from Westchester County Airport, with LaGuardia for comparison. NKBA's planning guidelines say a supplemental heat source such as floor heat should be considered; with a January mean of 29.8 degrees Fahrenheit at the county airport, we price radiant heat as an option on every tiled floor.

Hardness, pH and sodium are NYC DEP's 2025 figures for the New York City supply that RD-1 buys, not Veolia's own report for New Rochelle, which could not be read. EPA's lead action level is 15 parts per billion. Neither weather station is in New Rochelle.

Permit fees by jurisdiction, with their dates

Fees are set locally and change on their own calendars, so each row carries the date of its schedule. In New Rochelle, City Code section 111-13A issues no permit until the Chapter 133 fees are paid. The building fee is figured on estimated cost, which the Building Official determines from current costs of labor, materials and services (section 111-42G), and work completed without the inspector's approval pays twice the listed fee (section 111-42C(6)). The City's plumbing fee rows could not be read from the published code, so the table marks that cell rather than guessing. Section 111-9C lets the Building Official waive a permit only for an alteration under $10,000 that leaves structure, fire safety and the electrical, plumbing and heating systems untouched.

Among the towns, Larchmont's schedule, effective June 1, 2026, charges the most per thousand of construction cost at $19, against $17 in both Mamaroneck jurisdictions and $15 in Bronxville, Eastchester and Harrison; New Rochelle's $13 for each additional $1,000 is the lowest rate shown. Scarsdale and Tuckahoe set fees by board resolution, and those schedules, like Pelham's, Pelham Manor's and Rye's, could not be read, so they are left out rather than guessed. For a statewide reference, Fixr's New York page (March 26, 2025) puts bathroom remodel permits at $185 to $494, depending on the municipality.

Fees as printed in each schedule on the date shown. Pelham, Pelham Manor, Scarsdale, Rye and Tuckahoe are not shown because their current schedules could not be read. A dumpster on a New Rochelle street needs a separate permit from the Commissioner of Public Works; Larchmont charges $75 per permit plus $35 per day for one on a village street.

Published remodel cost benchmarks

Remodeling magazine's 2025 Cost vs Value report is the newest edition; no 2026 report had been published when we checked on October 1, 2026. Its New York, NY market is the closest table to New Rochelle and runs about 16% above national for a midrange bath and about 11% above for an upscale one. The upscale scope, close to a master bathroom remodel, is specific: a 35-square-foot bath expanded to 100 square feet, every fixture relocated, a 42 x 42-inch neo-angle shower with ceramic tile walls and a frameless glass enclosure, a freestanding soaker tub, a stone countertop with two sinks and electric in-floor heat. It has no steam, no stone or slab walls, no wall-hung toilet and no curbless shower, so a bath with those items is a larger scope than the one the report prices.

The other surveys measure different things. Fixr's New York State page averages $14,808 and reaches $67,870 for a luxury master bath; homeyou's New Rochelle range of $4,917 to $23,916 is built from quote requests; and HomeGuide's New Rochelle page repeats national figures. Labor costs more here: BLS puts the New York metro's mean hourly wage at $41.50 against $33.54 nationally (May 2025). A remodel that qualifies as a capital improvement, documented on Form ST-124, carries no sales tax on your bill, though the contractor pays sales tax on the materials; 8.375% is the New Rochelle rate. The universal-design rows are the closest published match to an accessible bathroom remodel.

Cost vs Value job costs are itemized estimates for a defined scope; cost recouped is resale value as a share of job cost. Fixr's page covers New York State and does not mention Westchester; homeyou's ranges come from quote requests. These are published ranges, not prices from us.

Sources & Methodology

Every figure above was taken from the primary sources below (accessed 2026-07-25). Where a number is derived (arithmetic on published figures) or covers a broader period or area, the text says so.

1. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: New Rochelle city, New York (Vintage 2025 estimates; ACS 2020-2024) — Westchester County and the village and town tables (Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Pelham, Pelham Manor, Scarsdale, Bronxville, Eastchester, Tuckahoe, Rye, Harrison) sit at the same address pattern.
2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, New Rochelle city: tables B25034, B25035, B25024, B25032 and B25003
3. Westchester County Department of Planning, Year Structure Built (ACS 2013-2017)
4. New York City Department of Environmental Protection, 2025 Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report
5. U.S. EPA, Lead and Copper Rule sample results for Veolia Water New York RD-1 (NY5903444)
6. New York State Department of Health, lead service line inventory for NY5903444
7. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (Westchester County Airport, USW00094745) — LaGuardia Airport (USW00014732) normals are in the same dataset.
8. City of New Rochelle Code, Chapter 111 Building Construction (with Chapter 133 Fees and Chapter 242 Plumbing and Drainage)
9. Village of Larchmont building permit fee schedule, FY 2026-27 — Also the Village of Mamaroneck (June 23, 2025), Town of Eastchester (January 2024), Town/Village of Harrison (March 2026) and Village of Bronxville schedules.
10. Remodeling magazine (Zonda), Cost vs Value Report 2025: New York, NY, Middle Atlantic and national tables
11. Fixr, bathroom remodeling cost in New York (March 26, 2025) — Also homeyou's New Rochelle page (July 25, 2026) and HomeGuide's New Rochelle page.
12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages in New York-Newark-Jersey City, May 2025 — Sales tax rates from New York State Publication 718; Form ST-124 for capital improvements.