Columbia Off-Campus Housing: Neighborhoods and Rents

Start from the Campus You Will Use

Columbia’s Morningside campus fills the blocks around 116th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. The 1 train stops at the gate. The B and C stop at 110th and 116th Streets on the far side of Morningside Park, a walk up the park stairs.

The Manhattanville campus is a few blocks north, around 125th to 130th Streets west of Broadway, at the 125th Street stop on the 1. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is in Washington Heights at 168th Street, where the 1, A and C meet.

The Four Areas, by Distance and Rent

Rents are StreetEasy’s median asking rent, October 2026, for the whole apartment. A room figure is the three-bedroom median divided by three: a guide, not a quote.

• Morningside Heights: roughly 110th to 125th Street, west of Morningside Park. Walk to class. Studio $3,215, one-bedroom $4,010, three-bedroom $5,630, about $1,877 a room.
• Manhattan Valley and the Upper West Side: Manhattan Valley is the stretch from about 96th to 110th Street, one or two stops south on the 1. StreetEasy counts it within the Upper West Side, where a studio is $3,370 and a three-bedroom $8,720, about $2,907 a room. That figure covers the whole Upper West Side down to 59th Street.
• West Harlem: around 125th Street, beside the Manhattanville campus. Studio $2,725, three-bedroom $4,790, about $1,597 a room.
• Hamilton Heights: about 135th to 155th Street. The 1 stops at 137th and 145th Streets, two and three stops from 116th. The A, B, C and D stop at 145th Street. Studio $2,485, three-bedroom $4,345, about $1,448 a room.
• Washington Heights: from 155th Street north. Walk to the medical campus, or ride the 1 about ten minutes to 116th Street. Studio $2,370, three-bedroom $3,975, about $1,325 a room.

What the Difference Adds Up To

Take a one-bedroom. Morningside Heights at $4,010 a month is $48,120 over twelve months. Hamilton Heights at $2,765 is $33,180. That is $14,940 a year for two or three more stops on the same train.

Buildings in all four areas are mostly pre-war: six-story elevator buildings along Broadway and Riverside Drive, and five-story walk-ups on the side streets. Ask which floor and whether there is an elevator before you visit.

What Columbia’s Off-Campus Housing Office Offers

Columbia has an Off-Campus Housing Assistance office, known as OCHA. According to Columbia’s policy page, it helps students and other Columbia affiliates find rental housing in buildings the university does not own, and it runs an online Housing Registry of rooms, apartments and sublets, with a place to look for roommates. You need a Columbia login to use it.

Columbia says it does not charge for the service, and that it does not inspect the places listed or screen the people listing them. So treat a registry listing like any other: see it, ask questions, get everything in writing.

Sublet Buddy is not affiliated with Columbia. Check the current details with OCHA itself.

University Apartments or the Open Market

Columbia also rents its own apartments to students in eligible programs through Columbia Residential, and medical campus students apply through the medical campus housing office. Eligibility depends on your school and on staying enrolled full time. If you are offered a university apartment, compare its monthly charge, what it includes and its dates against the medians above before you decide.

• Housing for Graduate Students
• Dorm or Apartment in NYC

Timing and Next Steps

1. Six to eight weeks before move-in: settle your budget, your roommates and which stops on the 1 you will consider.
2. Four to six weeks before: search in earnest. Most listings appear about a month before the apartment is available.
3. Before paying: see the place live, read the lease, and confirm who the landlord is.
4. If you will be away for a summer or a semester, ask your landlord in writing about subletting before you leave.

• Sublets for Students
• How to Avoid Sublet Scams in NYC