The NYC Neighborhood Wellness Survey (NYC NWS) is a mail-based survey conducted by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC Health Department) in collaboration with the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH). The purpose of the survey is to identify New Yorkers’ health-related needs and help the NYC Health Department develop innovative ways to meet those needs to improve the health of our city.

Over 200,000 households in all five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island) have been randomly selected to participate. Selection is not personal and has nothing to do with characteristics of household residents. If your household is randomly selected, one adult (age 18 or older) in your household is eligible to take the survey. If you are the only adult in your household, you should complete the survey. If you live with one or more adults, the adult with the next upcoming birthday should complete the survey. From the time your household receives the first invitation letter, you will have up to 10 weeks to complete the survey.

Check your mailbox to see if you’ve received the NYC Neighborhood Wellness Survey. If you’ve received the survey, your household has been randomly selected to participate. Only households that have received the survey by mail can complete the survey.

The survey can be completed in 15 minutes.

Your participation will help the NYC Health Department identify how to best support the health of New Yorkers by identifying areas of need and improving funding and resources to NYC communities.

Your participation in this survey is voluntary. If you do decide to take the survey, you may stop for any time and for any reason.

Follow the steps on the How to Participate section of this website to learn how to complete and return the survey.

If your household has been randomly selected to complete the survey, you will receive $5 just for opening the survey envelope. The person who completes the survey will receive an additional $20 as our way of saying thank you. Thank-you letters containing the additional $20 incentive will be mailed within a few weeks of our receipt of the completed survey.

If you completed the survey and have not received a thank-you letter, please call 833-883-0189 (toll-free) or email info@nycnws.org to speak with a survey representative. Only one person per household is eligible to receive the additional $20 incentive for completing the survey.

The survey can be completed in English, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Haitian Creole, and Russian. If your household has been selected to participate in the survey, and you have a question about how to complete the survey in one of these languages, call 833-883-0189 (toll-free) or email info@nycnws.org to speak with a survey representative.

If you would like to take the survey in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Haitian Creole, or Russian, your invitation letter will provide instructions on how to take the survey online.

If you are taking the survey in English or Spanish and you have received a survey code in a postcard or letter, you must enter that code on the website provided to take the survey online.

Each selected household will receive two (2) invitations and two (2) postcard reminders to complete the survey. You will receive these mailings even if you have already completed the survey. If a member of your household completes the survey, they will receive a letter containing an additional $20 incentive as a thank you for participation.

Your responses are confidential and will be used for research purposes only. Your name and other identifying information will never be used or provided in any analyses or reports. Participant names and other identifying information will be stored separately from survey responses. Access to participant names and identifying information will be heavily restricted. All analyses of survey data will be completed using data sets that contain no identifying information on participants.

The survey results will be analyzed to create reports on the health of New Yorkers by borough and community. The data will be used by the NYC Health Department, CUNY SPH, and community organizations to determine the needs of our communities, identify new ways to meet those needs, and to inform funding and policy decisions.

If you have questions about a survey you have received in the mail, or if you need help completing the NYC Neighborhood Wellness Survey, call 833-883-0189 (toll-free) or email info@nycnws.org to speak with a survey representative.