The NJ city where rent prices are now as high as NYC

It used to be a no-brainer: If you work in Manhattan or you just want to be close to Manhattan, you move to New Jersey. And one great option that was an alternative to New York City was Jersey City. But according to an article on Jerseydigs.com, that’s not necessarily the case anymore.

The article claims that Jersey City’s rising costs are making it a less attractive alternative to life in the Big Apple. It reports that Bloomberg took a look at average rents in several neighborhoods in New York City and Jersey City and Jersey City's rising rents are unprecedented.

Bloomberg crunched the numbers, revealing that the median rent in Jersey City spiked to $2,850 in October, a huge 48% jump from January 2020. This increase surpassed not only many New York neighborhoods but also outpaced increases in nearly 100 other major cities.

In "PATH-accessible areas" of Jersey City, rents soared even higher, averaging $3,600 per month.

Bloomberg's headline, "New Jersey Rent Surge Means It Makes Less Sense to Leave NYC," paints a picture of changing dynamics.

If fact, some areas like north east, and central Queens, South Brooklyn, and parts of upper Manhattan actually seem cheap by comparison. They actually have lower rents than Jersey City, although there’s no doubt that living in Manhattan is still prohibitively expensive for most people.

For example, downtown Manhattan is one of the most expensive spots to live in NYC with an average rent of $4,800 a month.

The upper West side has an average rent of about $4,500.

So, yes, Jersey City is cheaper by a hair. But that’s for right now. The way rents have been rising there, it won’t be long before people will be moving to Manhattan for a better deal.

This analysis echoes a previous study by Rent.com, which labeled Jersey City as having the highest rents in the country.

According to Rent.com, the average monthly rent was $3,308, slightly higher than the October 2023 average from the StreetEasy study.

Now that renting seems to be the only option available for many New Jerseyans, the appeal of Jersey City compared to New York City has been being looked at more closely.

And the question remains: Does it still make sense to consider Jersey City as an alternative to the Big Apple?
According to Bloomberg, the answer is probably not.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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