How many apartments for rent are in Journal Square, and how much have the new towers added?
Journal Square's skyline has changed faster than its side streets. The three Journal Squared towers beside the PATH added 1,840 rentals between 2017 and 2024, and The Journal, two 64-story towers with 1,723 units and a Target at street level, began leasing in September 2025. Away from the station the inventory is older: prewar elevator buildings on Pavonia and Summit Avenues, brick walk-ups, and floors of two- and three-family houses toward the Heights and the West Side. Today 1 apartments for rent are listed in and near Journal Square on Roomster, and owners of the smaller buildings often rent directly rather than through an agent.
How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Journal Square, and where are cheap apartments?
In mid-2026 a Journal Square one-bedroom averaged about $2,200 a month, down roughly 16 percent from a year earlier as thousands of new tower units competed for tenants. Studios averaged close to $2,100 and two-bedrooms about $3,250, well below downtown Jersey City, where similar units near Grove Street and the waterfront often cost several hundred dollars more. The spread inside the neighborhood is wide, too: studios in The Journal have been listed from about $2,760 to over $3,300, while older buildings a few blocks away ask far less. For one-bedrooms under $2,000 a month, look at walk-ups and house floors in McGinley Square, the Marion Section and the blocks around India Square.
Is my Journal Square apartment for rent covered by Jersey City rent control?
That depends mostly on the size and age of the building. Jersey City's rent control ordinance, Chapter 260 of the municipal code, covers buildings with five or more units and limits yearly increases for them to the lesser of 4 percent or the change in the regional consumer price index. Two-, three- and four-family houses, which make up much of the housing around Journal Square, are exempt, and large new construction in redevelopment areas, such as the towers by the PATH, is generally exempt too. Older elevator and walk-up buildings with five or more apartments are the ones most likely to be covered. Before you sign, ask the city's Office of Landlord/Tenant Relations about the building's status.
Are apartments for rent in Journal Square less exposed to flooding than downtown Jersey City?
Generally, yes. Journal Square sits up on Bergen Hill, the ridge that runs south from the Palisades, well above the low ground of downtown Jersey City and Hoboken that flooded during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. That elevation is one quiet reason renters trade the waterfront for the square. It does not rule out every problem, since heavy summer storms can still back up sewers into the basements of older houses. Since March 20, 2024, New Jersey landlords have had to give tenants a written flood disclosure with every lease, stating whether the property is in a floodplain and whether it has flooded before, so read it, and favor an upper floor over a garden or basement apartment if you have any doubt.
What deposit and broker fees should I expect when I rent an apartment in Journal Square?
New Jersey's Security Deposit Act caps the deposit at one and a half months of rent, and the landlord must hold it in an interest-bearing account and tell you which bank holds it within 30 days. Broker fees are where Journal Square differs from Manhattan. New York City's FARE Act stopped landlords' agents from charging tenants in June 2025, but no such rule applies in Jersey City, so an agent-listed apartment here can still carry a tenant-paid fee. The large towers by the PATH lease through their own offices, and many owners of houses and small buildings rent directly, which is the simplest way to avoid one. If you keep a car, budget for a Jersey City zone parking permit or a garage spot as well.
Should I rent an apartment in Journal Square or in downtown Jersey City?
It is the comparison most renters here make, and it comes down to trade-offs. Downtown, around Grove Street and the waterfront, puts you a few minutes closer to the World Trade Center and near the ferries, but you pay several hundred dollars more a month for a similar unit. From Journal Square the PATH ride to the World Trade Center is only a few stops longer, and because the 33rd Street line starts here, you can often get a seat at rush hour. You also get India Square's restaurants, the restored Loew's Jersey Theatre and a Target at the base of The Journal. The blocks around the station are busier and more commercial than downtown's brownstone streets, so walk them at night before you decide.
