The 5 Safest Jersey City, NJ Neighborhoods For 2026

The safest Jersey City neighborhoods are Downtown and Liberty Park for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

Every city has safe neighborhoods and dangerous neighborhoods. We believe you should know which neighborhoods in Jersey City are the safest before you move.

Every year, more than 30 million Americans move. Sometimes, it’s for a job, other times it’s to escape the big city. But no matter where you move, you want a neighborhood that’s family friendly, clean, and most importantly, safe.

We’ve analyzed the FBI crime report’s data on violent and property crimes for every single neighborhood in Jersey City. Then, we calculated your chances of being the victim of a crime in each one.

What Jersey City neighborhoods can you leave your doors unlocked at night? Here’s the list.

1

No. 1 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

Downtown, NJ

38,783 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
1

No. 1 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

Liberty Park, NJ

618 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
1

No. 1 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

The Waterfront, NJ

14,428 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
4

No. 4 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

The Heights, NJ

50,701 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
5

No. 5 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

Lincoln Park, NJ

1,019 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Lincoln Park, NJ
Source: Wikipedia User Mitchazenia | CC BY-SA 3.0
Map of Lincoln Park within New Jersey Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
6

No. 6 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

Journal Square, NJ

26,826 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
7

No. 7 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

McGinley Square, NJ

20,749 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
9

No. 9 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

West Side, NJ

23,620 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey
10

No. 10 safest neighborhood in Jersey City

Greenville, NJ

48,963 people
Located in Hudson County, New Jersey

The receipts

Compare the top ten

Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is New Jersey’s statewide median.

City Violent crime /100k vs NJ
1 Downtown 114
1 Liberty Park 114
1 The Waterfront 114
4 The Heights 295
5 Lincoln Park 297
6 Journal Square 322
7 McGinley Square 323
9 West Side 355
10 Greenville 362
City Property crime /100k vs NJ
1 Downtown 574
1 Liberty Park 574
1 The Waterfront 574
4 The Heights 1,488
5 Lincoln Park 1,501
6 Journal Square 1,623
7 McGinley Square 1,629
8 Hackensack Riverfront 1,679
9 West Side 1,793
10 Greenville 1,828

Saturday Night Science

Methodology: How we determined the safest Jersey City hoods in 2026

You can ask people which neighborhoods are the safest, or you can look at the unbiased raw data. We choose data.

Instead of relying on speculation and opinion, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the numbers from the FBI’s most recent crime report for every neighborhood in Jersey City.

To be more specific, we analyzed the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report. We then ran an analysis to calculate each neighborhood’s property and violent crimes per capita. We used the following criteria:

  • Total Crimes Per Capita
  • Violent Crimes Per Capita
  • Property Crimes Per Capita

We then ranked each neighborhood with scores from 1 to 11 in each category, where 1 was the safest.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each neighborhood to create a safe neighborhood index.

Finally, we crowned the neighborhood with the lowest safest neighborhood index the “Safest City Neighborhood In Jersey City.” We’re lookin’ at you, Downtown.

We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all the neighborhoods in the city, from safest to most dangerous.

The full plate

Detailed list of the safest neighborhoods to live in Jersey City for 2026

Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.

RankNeighborhoodCrime Per 100K
1Downtown
1Liberty Park
1The Waterfront
4The Heights
5Lincoln Park
6Journal Square
7McGinley Square
8Hackensack Riverfront
9West Side
10Greenville
11Bergen-Lafayette

Source: FBI UCR. All 11 Jersey City neighborhoods.

Summary

Summary: The safest places in Jersey City

Looking at the data, you can tell that Downtown is as safe as they come, according to science and data.

The safest neighborhoods in Jersey City are Downtown, Liberty Park, The Waterfront, The Heights, Lincoln Park, Journal Square, McGinley Square, Hackensack Riverfront, West Side, and Greenville.

But as most New Jersey residents would agree, almost every place here has its safe and not safe parts. So make sure you’re informed ahead of time.

We ranked the neighborhoods from safest to most dangerous in the chart below. Not sold on New Jersey? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.

Questions and answers

Safest Neighborhoods In Jersey City FAQs

What is the safest neighborhood in Jersey City?

Downtown is the safest neighborhood in Jersey City for 2026, based on FBI crime data. Liberty Park and The Waterfront are next.

What are the safest neighborhoods in Jersey City?

The safest neighborhoods in Jersey City are Downtown, Liberty Park, The Waterfront, The Heights, Lincoln Park, Journal Square, McGinley Square, Hackensack Riverfront, West Side, and Greenville. We ranked all 11 neighborhoods in the city.

How do you measure neighborhood safety?

Neighborhoods are ranked on violent and property crimes per capita, using FBI crime data mapped to each neighborhood. The lowest combined crime rate wins.

Which neighborhood ranked last for safety?

Bergen-Lafayette posts the highest crime rate of the 11 Jersey City neighborhoods we scored. Our separate worst neighborhoods in Jersey City ranking digs into that end of the list.

Does a low crime rate guarantee safety?

No. Crime rates are averages across a whole neighborhood, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. The numbers tell you where the odds are best, not that anywhere is risk-free.

Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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