Economic Impact

As New Haven’s largest employer and third-largest taxpayer, Yale is a powerful economic engine for our host city.

According to the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, Yale’s overall economic impact is more than $16 billion annually. And no university in America makes a larger voluntary payment to a single home city than Yale does to New Haven.

Whether it’s supporting small businesses, fostering innovation, or expanding educational opportunities, Yale is playing a critical role in helping New Haven build a 21st century economy that benefits all its residents.

By the numbers

$135 million

Voluntary payments to be made to New Haven over six years

Nearly 6,000

New Haven residents employed

$5 million+

Annual taxes paid by Yale, a top three New Haven tax payer

Voluntary Payments

The Yale-New Haven relationship is unique in many ways. But here’s one of the biggest: No university in America makes a larger voluntary payment to a single home city than Yale does to New Haven. And it’s getting even larger.

In November 2021, Yale and New Haven made history again with a groundbreaking new partnership: a six-year, $135 million voluntary payment to the city to promote inclusive growth and sustained economic development. Read more about this historic partnership.

Jobs and Training

Goods jobs are the lifeblood of any community. That’s why Yale is proud to be New Haven’s largest employer, with nearly 14,000 New Haven faculty and staff, including nearly 6,000 New Haven residents.

Yale is one of the founding members of New Haven Works, a jobs pipeline for New Haven residents, as well as the New Haven Hiring Initiative (NHHI), which supports New Haven’s economic growth by connecting qualified New Haven residents to open positions at the University.

Working at Yale has been life-changing for me. For the first time in 17 years, I have a job that offers me stability, work-life balance, and access to benefits like medical and dental insurance, PTO, and a retirement plan. My co-workers are like a family.
—Shareema Bowman, Yale employee hired through New Haven Works

Yale also works closely with its contractors to maximize the number of New Haven residents hired for its construction projects. Over the past decade, Yale research has contributed to a growing cluster of spin-off companies in the greater New Haven area, generating dozens of business ventures and creating even more good-paying jobs.

Yale creates good-paying jobs. They do everything they can to build a vibrant New Haven economy.
—Claire Criscuolo, owner, Claire’s Corner Copia

Tax Payments

Yale is New Haven’s third-largest taxpayer. Every non-profit university in the nation is exempt from paying taxes on their academic property. But, through its community investment program that redevelops nearby property, Yale pays real estate taxes—over $5 million this year—on all of our non-academic property.

In November 2021, as part of our new partnership agreement with the City of New Haven, any properties that Yale purchases that are converted to exempt status will be subject to a formula-based tax payment for twelve years.

Center for Inclusive Growth

The Yale School of Management (SOM), under the leadership of Dean Kerwin Charles, is leading the university’s efforts to establish the Center for Inclusive Growth, a historic partnership between the City of New Haven and Yale that will develop and implement strategies to ensure inclusive economic growth in New Haven. Yale has committed $5 million to the Center over its first six years.

In addition, SOM has launched the Inclusive Growth Fellowship, Yale’s first major programmatic contribution to the center, through which Yale SOM students will work on projects aimed at increasing economic growth in ways that broadly benefit New Haven residents.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Innovation is vital to a thriving 21st century economy. In recent years, Yale and the city of New Haven have worked together to help our city become a national hub for the life sciences industry. In spring of 2021, Yale announced it would be an anchor tenant at 101 College Street in New Haven, a new construction project of offices and biomedical lab space. Yale was also able to help secure a biotech incubator, which will be housed at the site to help attract the best ideas and talent in the nation.

The development of 101 College Street is expected to lead to the creation of roughly 1,000 construction jobs, as well as approximately 800 permanent jobs. 101 College will also be the new home of Yale Ventures, which plays a key role in making New Haven a globally recognized hub of innovation.

Community Investment Program

Yale’s Community Investment Program supports independently owned businesses, bringing jobs to New Haven residents and expanding the city’s tax base. Over 90 percent of our tenants have local or regional owners.

Yale helps support local tenants in a variety of ways, such as hosting merchant association meetings, organizing events to draw visitors, overseeing advertising and promotion efforts, investing in property improvements, and providing much-needed rent relief during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.

But Yale’s Community Investment Program doesn’t just provide support for businesses once they’re up and running. It also helps promote diversity among aspiring entrepreneurs. Yale has focused on recruiting minority and female-owned businesses to our retail districts, including a growing number of Black-owned businesses.

I’ve received nothing but support from Yale and New Haven. I like to say, ‘They’re real big on small businesses.’
—Ricky Evans, owner, Ricky D’s Rib Shack

Educational Opportunities

Yale knows that today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. Each year, through programs like Yale Pathways, New Haven Promise, and the James W.C. Pennington Fellowship, Yale helps thousands of New Haven area students explore their passions, prepare for college, and reach their full academic potential. Learn more about Yale’s support for New Haven public school students.

Cultural Resources

There’s a reason the New York Times said New Haven has the “culture of a major metropolis.” Yale’s museums, exhibition spaces, concerts, and theatre productions are not only world-renowned, they’re also generally open to the public, and many programs are free of charge.

The Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library offer free admission, as will the Yale Peabody Museum once its extensive renovation is completed in 2024.

Claire Criscuolo

Community Voices: Claire Criscuolo

If New Haven held an election for unofficial mayor, Claire Criscuolo would get a lot of votes. No culinary tour of New Haven is complete with a stop at Claire’s Corner Copia, a vegetarian haven that has served students, faculty, and local New Haven residents for nearly half a century. Since opening the restaurant with her husband in 1975, Criscuolo has had a front row seat to downtown New Haven’s economic transformation over the last few decades—and Yale’s critical role in it. “I’ve been a Yale tenant for five decades and they do everything they can to build a vibrant New Haven economy,” Criscuolo said. “Yale creates good-paying jobs. They’ve given so much support to local small businesses because they really want to see us succeed. And Yale students are part of the fabric of New Haven. They donate their time. They donate their expertise. They volunteer for every opportunity.”