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Place dossier plate
SheetNJ-JERSEY-CITY-NJ · Jersey City, NJ 289,691 pop · income 74th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Jersey City
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Jersey City on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Trenton · lowest
47,102
Trenton · lowest
47,102 median HH income
43.4% of the leader · rank #1
Jersey City · this city
94,813
Jersey City · this city
94,813 median HH income
87.3% of the leader · rank #2
Osprey · near
94,815
Osprey · near
94,815 median HH income
87.3% of the leader · rank #3
Candlewick La… · near
94,820
Candlewick La… · near
94,820 median HH income
87.3% of the leader · rank #4
Lake Catherine · near
94,821
Lake Catherine · near
94,821 median HH income
87.3% of the leader · rank #5
Sewickley · near
94,828
Sewickley · near
94,828 median HH income
87.3% of the leader · rank #6
Plano · highest
108,649
Plano · highest
108,649 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Jersey City on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 289,691.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Jersey City - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Jersey City lands in the 74th percentile for household income and the 21st percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
74th
percentile, household income
86th
percentile, home value
94th
percentile, median rent
21st
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Jersey City, NJ
New Jersey's Jersey City is a mid-sized U.S. city, with 289,691 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Jersey City report a median income of $94,813 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 12.1%. Typical homes in Jersey City are valued around $534,500, and the median resident age is 34.7 years. 53.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 66.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 2,601 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 44% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2590.6 in FBI UCR data, near the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
New Jersey carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, New Jersey scores 108.8 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $2,132 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $275 across New Jersey, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Commute times here average 28.9 minutes, with 28.1% driving alone and 21.6% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 90.8 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Jersey City's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist to schools and households to population change to reported crime; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Jersey City, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Jersey City?
Public transit is the largest reported mode at 37.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 28.9 minutes.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
How far does income reach against housing in Jersey City?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 5.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 12.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for Jersey City?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within New Jersey, the closest population matches are Newark (307,188 residents, $48,416 income); Paterson (157,660 residents, $53,766 income); Elizabeth (135,887 residents, $63,874 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Anchorage, AK (289,069 residents); Durham, NC (288,465 residents); Lincoln, NE (291,932 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the education layer cover for Jersey City?
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
The NCES join finds 8 public schools within the city match. 53.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Population change
Is Jersey City growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +10,058 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +3.4% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2,601 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
2020 estimate
291,955
2025 estimate
302,013
Period change
+3.4%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Jersey City?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2590.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 14% higher in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Total reported rate
2590.6
Violent rate
561.6
Property rate
2029.1
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Above median income · poverty 12.1% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
108.8 (US=100)
High cost · BEA RPP 2024, New Jersey average
D
City profile score · Jersey City, NJ
42/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A
53.1%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B
$94,813
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
12.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime F
562 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Cost of living F
108.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Jersey City profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 87/100 (A) · 53.1%
Household income: 74/100 (B) · $94,813
Poverty rate: 31/100 (F) · 12.1%
Violent crime: 12/100 (F) · 562 /100k
Cost of living: 10/100 (F) · 108.8 index
Where Jersey City sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Jersey City's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Jersey City highlighted among 12 peers.Read the chart values
Jersey City, NJ (this city): home $534,500, crime 2,591/100k
Anchorage, AK : home $375,900, crime 3,781/100k
Durham, NC : home $355,300, crime 4,419/100k
Lincoln, NE : home $248,200, crime 2,794/100k
Plano, TX : home $440,600, crime 1,618/100k
St. Louis, MO : home $185,100, crime 7,074/100k
Greensboro, NC : home $221,300, crime 4,307/100k
Newark, NJ : home $337,800, crime 2,539/100k
Paterson, NJ : home $335,400, crime 3,330/100k
Elizabeth, NJ : home $393,500, crime 3,066/100k
Trenton, NJ : home $122,500, crime 3,315/100k
Clifton, NJ : home $444,300, crime 2,431/100k
How does Jersey City compare to other US cities?
Where Jersey City sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income74% higher than other cities
Home value86% pricier than other cities
Median rent94% pricier than other cities
Safety21% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at New Jersey, Jersey City ranks #209 of 238 New Jersey cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Jersey City against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to New Jersey only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
New Jersey-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Jersey City near the bottom of New Jersey's cities
Among the 686 New Jersey cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Jersey City ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Jersey City only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#413 of 659
37th percentile in New Jersey
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 686
0th percentile in New Jersey
Median Home Value
#189 of 672
72nd percentile in New Jersey
Poverty Rate
#73 of 680
89th percentile in New Jersey
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#234 of 686
66th percentile in New Jersey
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within New Jersey only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
74th percentile nationally for median household income · 21st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Jersey City's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Jersey City's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Jersey City's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$534,50014th percentilemore affordable than 14% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Jersey City's home-value-to-income ratio: 5.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
pressured
> 5.0×
National rank
#13,746 of 15,516
More affordable than 11% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#87 of 117
Large cities (200,000–999,999)
At 5.6×, Jersey City sits in the pressured band:
national rank #13,746 of 15,516 and #87 of 117large cities (200,000–999,999).
Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median, a comparison flag, not a verdict on any household.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$94,813Jersey City, NJ median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Jersey City, NJ median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Jersey City, NJ.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)53.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)12.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)66.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
289,691
Median Income
$94,813
Median Home Value
$534,500
Median Age
34.7
Poverty Rate
12.1%
Labor force participation
66.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
53.1%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2590.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
561.6
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2029.1
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
8
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Jersey City's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
291,955 residents
2021
285,162 residents
2022
292,008 residents
2023
297,555 residents
2024
300,723 residents
2025
302,013 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
2,601
housing units authorized
Single-Family
185
detached homes
Multifamily
2,416
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
4,675
2,003
2,672
$367.5M
2020
3,552
130
3,422
$516.6M
2021
3,232
245
2,987
$397.0M
2022
3,741
254
3,487
$821.6M
2023
2,339
151
2,188
$327.2M
2024
2,601
185
2,416
$446.7M
Permit volume decreased 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
28.9 minutes
Drive Alone
28.1%
Carpool
4.7%
Public Transit
37.1%
Walk
5.5%
Work from Home
21.6%
Other
3.0%
Based on 154,065 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
New Jersey statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $275
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across New Jersey at $275 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $60 ).
These are New Jersey statewide averages, not a meter reading for Jersey City. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
New Jersey's BEA cost-of-living index is 108.8 (Well Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Jersey City is $2,132/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to New Jersey statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 90.8 / 100 (Very High).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a New Jersey statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Jersey City sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Jersey City compares to similar-size New Jersey cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.