Featured Image Credit: John Lamparski/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Zohran Mamdani, Politics, New York
William Morgan
Topics: Zohran Mamdani, Politics, New York
New York City's democratic socialist mayor's income has been revealed in his tax filings, which were unusual for the leader of America's richest metropolitan area and included a bizarre income source.
Zohran Mamdani, 34, assumed office in January of this year after crushing his opponents in a mayoral campaign that centered around the spiralling cost of living hikes that have made life in the Big Apple harder for many of its residents.
And his tax filings reveal why Mayor Mamdani was so effective in his messaging around these issues, as they showed that he and his wife Rama Duwaji, 28, had a combined household income in 2025 of $145,000.
This places them only slightly above average income for people in the area, which city data shows is around $129,600. While this is significantly above the nationwide median income of $83,000, finance firm SmartAsset estimates that New Yorkers need to earn over $158,954 just to live 'comfortably'.
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The filings for 2025 show that Mamdani's income as a City Councilman made up the bulk of the couple's earnings, with him drawing a salary from the city of $131,926. Duwaji, a graphic designer, earned just $8,860, after deducting $500 for art supplies.
However, their financial situation has improved immensely since Mamdani assumed the highest office in the city, which comes with a handsome salary of $258,000 as well as free accommodation in the mayor's Gracie Mansion.
This will be boosted a small amount by a bizarre income stream that also emerged when the mayor made his tax filings public after the Wednesday deadline. That is, royalties from his former music career.
For those who weren't aware of what Mamdani did before he held public office, New York's photogenic mayor was actually a rapper, recording under the name 'Mr Cardamom'. One of his biggest tracks was 'Nani', dedicated to his grandmother.
Royalties from his stint in the rap game, however, were not a massive boost to Mamdani's income in 2025, adding just $1600 to the mayor's pocket. The couple also earned $1600 from what his spokesperson said was a 'mutual fund'.
The mayor also earned a small amount of interest from two accounts amounting to just $236, likely related to his successful parents , his father a Columbia University professor and his mom a successful movie director.
His representative also confirmed that the mayor had donated to charities in the past year, despite no donations appearing in the couple's filings. This is because Mamdani took the standard deduction rather than an itemized list of contributions.
Releasing these tax filings to the public has become standard transparency practice for the city's mayors, as well as a number of other high-profile officials.
This included Mamdani's scandal-laden predecessor Eric Adams, whose tax filings revealed that he had been writing off rat mitigation measures at his rental property in Brooklyn.