Benefits Navigation & Support · Surprise rank #408
NYC’s Free Screener Checks You Against 40+ Benefits in About 10 Minutes
ACCESS NYC’s anonymous screener can flag benefits you may qualify for without making you research each city, state and federal program separately.
Who
New York City residents who want to check possible benefit eligibility for themselves or their household.
Where: New York City
What to do
Start here: Open the ACCESS NYC eligibility screener and answer the household questions; it generally takes about 10 minutes.
Eligibility: Anyone can use the anonymous screener. Actual eligibility is determined later by the agency that administers each program.
What you get
The online eligibility screener asks a short set of household questions and estimates potential eligibility for more than 40 benefit programs.
Benefit: A personalized list of programs worth investigating, with links and next steps; the screening itself is free.
Possible value: The screener has no cash value by itself, but it can uncover benefits worth hundreds or thousands of dollars depending on the household.
Good to know
Important: A screener result is not an approval or guarantee. You still have to apply to the responsible agency and provide any required documents.
Availability: Active
Why people miss it: People tend to search one benefit at a time and never realize NYC has a single anonymous tool that cross-checks dozens at once.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026