Best PlacesThe Waterfront, Jersey City, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around The Waterfront, Jersey City, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
The Waterfront, Jersey City ranks 189th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in The Waterfront, Jersey City
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The Waterfront, Jersey City's strengths and weaknesses
Where The Waterfront, Jersey City ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Household income$199,031 median, better than 98% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
Where The Waterfront, Jersey City ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Tree shadeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 7% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in The Waterfront, Jersey City
A household needs to earn about $258,000 a year to comfortably buy the median The Waterfront, Jersey City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $199,031, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses The Waterfront, Jersey City's effective rate of 1.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in The Waterfront, Jersey City
The Waterfront, Jersey City runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for The Waterfront, Jersey City.
Who works in The Waterfront, Jersey City, and how
Work in The Waterfront, Jersey City centers on professional & technical and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 6%
- Work from home 42%
- Transit, walk, or bike 53%
Life in The Waterfront, Jersey City
The Waterfront, Jersey City has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 16 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of The Waterfront, Jersey City and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in The Waterfront, Jersey City, month by month
The Waterfront, Jersey City sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 35° | 28° |
| April | 65° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 88° | 78° | 70° |
| October | 69° | 60° | 52° |
Flying in and out of The Waterfront, Jersey City
Newark Liberty International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around The Waterfront, Jersey City
Schools across The Waterfront, Jersey City average a B+, better than 86% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Cornelia F. Bradford SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Wallace Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Rafael Cordero Y MolinaD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Academy IA− · 55% proficient
- Middle School # 4C · 34% proficient
- Hoboken Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Dr Ronald Mcnair High SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Hoboken High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every The Waterfront, Jersey City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
The Waterfront, Jersey City measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare The Waterfront, Jersey City against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who The Waterfront, Jersey City suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of neighborhoods and 42% already work from home.
Common questions about living in The Waterfront, Jersey City
Is The Waterfront, Jersey City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, The Waterfront, Jersey City ranks 189th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on population health, big-city access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on state finances and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is The Waterfront, Jersey City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $894,792. The overall cost of living runs about 61% above the national average. Set against a $199,031 median income, cost of living beats 91% of neighborhoods.
Is The Waterfront, Jersey City safe?
Yes, The Waterfront, Jersey City is safer than 62% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $269 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in The Waterfront, Jersey City?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 28. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of neighborhoods.
Is The Waterfront, Jersey City good for families?
Schools beat 86% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 62%, and childcare runs $1,520 a month.
Compare The Waterfront, Jersey City with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to The Waterfront, Jersey City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in The Waterfront, Jersey City represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
The Waterfront, Jersey City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for The Waterfront, Jersey City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in The Waterfront, Jersey City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of The Waterfront, Jersey City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in The Waterfront, Jersey City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
The Waterfront, Jersey City detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.