NYC attraction price index
What New York actually charges for its ticketed sights — one table, one date, no sponsored placements. Free to read, free to cite, downloadable as CSV.
Checked 2 November 2026. Prices, opening hours and transport details were verified against official sources. Things change — confirm before you book. How we check.
The headline number
A first-time visitor who does the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty ferry, the 9/11 Museum and one Broadway show pays roughly $200–$240 per person in tickets alone. Five observation decks cost $220–$260 if you climb more than one — the single easiest place to overspend in New York.
Prices are the hardest part of planning NYC
Every attraction quotes a "from" price, then adds dates, sunset slots, exhibitions and fees. Most guides copy last year's numbers. This index records what the official sellers were quoting on one date, for every headline sight, in one place.
Use it to sanity-check a pass, decide whether a second observation deck is worth it, or budget a trip without opening twelve tabs. Because it is a dataset rather than an article, other sites and writers can cite it — please link back if you do.
Adult admission, from cheapest to most expensive
Prices are adult 'from' rates in USD, checked against the operator's own booking page. Dynamic pricing means the number at checkout can be higher, especially at weekends and sunset slots.
| Attraction | Adult from | Category | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Park | Free | Free | Zoo, rink and rowboats are separately ticketed. |
| The High Line | Free | Free | Free elevated park; seasonal opening hours. |
| Brooklyn Bridge walkway | Free | Free | Open 24 hours; free to walk. |
| Grand Central Terminal | Free | Free | Concourse free; official tour is a paid extra. |
| Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island ferry | $25.50 | Harbour | Child $16.50, senior $22.50; crown/pedestal add-on $0.30; NPS entrance fee is $0. |
| American Museum of Natural History | $28 | Museum | $43 with one ticketed exhibition; NY/NJ/CT residents pay-what-you-wish. |
| 9/11 Memorial & Museum | $24–36 | Museum | Memorial plaza is free; museum price is dynamic. |
| MoMA | $30 | Museum | Free for under-16s; NY State residents free Friday evenings. |
| The Met | $30 | Museum | Pay-what-you-wish for NY State residents; closed Wednesdays. |
| Top of the Rock | from $42 | Observation deck | Skip-the-line from $82; VIP from $185. |
| Empire State Building (86th floor) | from $46 | Observation deck | Peak dates around $57; 102nd floor is a paid add-on. |
| One World Observatory | $51 | Observation deck | Standard adult ticket; combo with the 9/11 Museum can save money. |
| SUMMIT One Vanderbilt | from $44 | Observation deck | Roughly $44–62 by date; Ascent lift is an add-on. |
| Edge at Hudson Yards | from $44 | Observation deck | Dynamic: roughly $44–69 depending on date and sunset slots. |
| Broadway show (average paid ticket) | $131.09 avg | Theatre | 2025–26 season average; premium seats cost far more. |
Broadway shown as the 2025–26 season average paid ticket, not a "from" price — individual shows sell from roughly $60 to $500+.
Paid tickets, compared
Observation decks cluster at the top of the range; museums cluster in the middle. Broadway (an average of $131.09) is excluded from the bars so the attractions stay readable.
Price movements worth knowing
New York prices move every January. These are the changes that matter most for a 2026–27 trip.
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Subway and local bus fare | $3.00 | Rose from $2.90 on 4 January 2026. |
| AirTrain JFK | $8.75 | Rose from $8.50 in early 2026. |
| Staten Island ferry | Free | Has been free since 1997; 24 hours a day. |
| CityPASS | $149 adult | Five attractions from ten; nine-day validity, +$2 fee. |
| Broadway average paid ticket | $131.09 | 2025–26 season average, up on the previous year. |
| MoMA / Met / AMNH adult admission | $30 / $30 / $28 | No change from 2025 headline rates; dynamic add-ons apply. |
Where the skyline costs nothing
-
01
Staten Island Ferry — free, 24 hours, passes the Statue of Liberty.
-
02
Brooklyn Bridge Park — free waterfront with the best Manhattan skyline view.
-
03
Roosevelt Island Tramway — the cost of a subway fare for an aerial ride.
-
04
Top of the High Line — elevated views over the West Side, free.
How the index is built
A short method note, because a dataset without one is just a list.
Sources. Each price was read from the official operator's own booking page on 2 November 2026 — not from a reseller and not from a previous edition of this page. Where the official page was inaccessible to automated checks (the Met, SUMMIT), the figure was cross-checked against the operator's partner listing and is labelled accordingly on the individual guide.
What "from" means. The lowest adult price available on the date checked, before taxes and booking fees. Dynamic pricing means the same ticket can cost materially more at weekends, school holidays and sunset slots. Ranges in the table reflect tickets we saw on sale that week.
What is excluded. Food, transport, hotels, add-ons (102nd floor, Crown, City Climb, The Beam) and packages. Those are covered in the individual attraction guides and in the passes comparison.
Updates. The index is re-checked quarterly and whenever an operator announces a price change; the checked date at the top always reflects the latest sweep.
https://nyctrove.com/nyc-attraction-price-index.html
Licence: CC BY 4.0 — you may reuse the table with attribution and a link to this page. CSV: attraction-prices.csv.
What to read next
The index tells you what things cost. These guides tell you what to do about it.
Is CityPASS worth it?
The break-even maths with real 2026 prices.
Which deck should you pay for?
Five decks compared by view, queue and price.
What a whole trip costs
Hotels, food, transport and attractions by travel style.
Price index questions
Why are the prices different from what I see at checkout?
Dynamic pricing. The index records the lowest adult “from” price seen on the operator's booking page on the checked date. Weekend, holiday and sunset slots cost more, and booking fees can be added at checkout.
Are these prices per person?
Yes — adult, per person, before tax and fees. Child and senior prices are listed in the notes and on each attraction's own guide where the operator publishes them.
Which attraction is the best value?
By sheer hours of entertainment per dollar, the free ones win: Central Park, the High Line, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry. Among paid sights, the Met and AMNH give the most time for the money.
Can I reuse this table on my site?
Yes, under CC BY 4.0 — credit NYCTrove, link to this page and keep the checked date. The CSV download is there to make that easy.
How often is the index updated?
Quarterly, plus whenever an operator announces a price change. The checked date at the top of the page always reflects the latest sweep.