1. Brooklyn is the largest of New York City’s five boroughs by population and the second largest by area. With 2.6 million people, it is the second most densely populated county in the nation.
2. Immigrants accounted for 39 percent of the borough’s residents in 2012, the third-largest share of any large county in the nation.
3. Between 2003 and 2012, private sector employment grew by 19.8 percent, faster than any other borough and nearly twice the rate of growth in the rest of the city. Total private sector wages grew by 42 percent between 2003 and 2012, faster than any borough outside of Manhattan.
4. Since 2003, the number of businesses has grown by 21 percent, a much faster rate of growth than the rest of the city.
5. The health care and social assistance sector is the largest employer in Brooklyn, accounting for one-third of all private sector jobs.
6. Manufacturing jobs are increasing in Brooklyn, reversing a decadeslong trend.
7. Brooklyn is also attracting a growing number of technology and creative firms with relatively high-paying jobs.
8. The unemployment rate in Brooklyn has declined from a peak of 10.9 percent during the recession to 8.9 percent during the first quarter of 2014, but the rate remains much higher in some of the borough’s neighborhoods.
9. Median household income in Brooklyn is lower than in the other boroughs, but it grew twice as fast in 2012 (5.8 percent) as the citywide median.
10. Nearly 30 percent of all households in Brooklyn devoted more than half of their income to rent.
11. Serious crime declined by 77.5 percent in Brooklyn between 1990 and 2013.
SOURCE: “An Economic Snapshot of Brooklyn,” Office of the State Comptroller.
