Hoboken, NJ — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

Hudson County · New York-Newark-Jersey City · population 59,149

Shrinking
Hoboken, NJ
Image: Wikipedia · Hoboken, New Jersey
View watchlist →
54
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Hoboken stands

At or near all-time high. population shrinking 0.5% per year.

Median home $852,673
1-year +0.2%
5-yr CAGR +1.0%
vs 5-yr peak -0.6%
Population -0.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2018-05$853k$691k$759k$828k$897k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
100/100
Walker's paradise
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
82/100
Excellent transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
45/100
Marginal for remote
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$3,865/mo$2,520$3,308$4,097202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent105144100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 18.4
Lean buy

At a 18.4 price-to-rent ratio, Hoboken is in the 'depends on horizon' zone. Buy if you'll be there 5+ years and value flexibility on the home; rent if you might move, want zero maintenance friction, or expect rates to drop.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
51 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
41 · w22%
Distance from peak
86 · w18%
Population growth
37 · w16%
Rent YoY
70 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
35 · w10%
Long thesis

Hoboken has held up across the cycle: home values at $852,673 with +1.0% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Hoboken's population is shrinking 0.5% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.

About Hoboken

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, with an estimated population of 59,149. It anchors the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area. The population has contracted 0.5% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Hoboken is $852,673 as of 2026-04, up 0.2% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +1.0% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Hoboken average $3,865 per month, up 3.8% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 54 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

Bull case

Held the highs: currently -0.6% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
The data is the data: Hoboken has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

Bear case

Expensive AND not growing: median home $852,673 with only +0.2% YoY. You’re paying premium pricing for a flat trend.
Flat or shrinking population: -0.5% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.
Stagnant long-run trend: +1.3% 10-year CAGR plus flat population — appreciation case is weak.

About Hoboken (Wikipedia)

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 60,419, an increase of 10,414 (+20.8%) from the 2010 census count of 50,005, which in turn reflected an increase of 11,428 (+29.6%) from the 38,577 counted in the 2000 census. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 59,149 for 2024. With more than 42,400 inhabitants per square mile (16,400/km2) in data from the 2010 census, Hoboken was ranked as the third-most densely populated municipality in the United States among cities with a population above 50,000. In the 2020 census, the city's population density climbed to more than 48,300 inhabitants per square mile (18,600/km2) of land, ranked fourth in the county behind Guttenberg, Union City and West New York, all of which are in Hudson County.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorEmily Jabbour
Area1.97 sq mi
Elevation23 ft
IncorporatedApril 9, 1849 unit_pref = Imperial
NicknameThe Mile Square City image_skyline = multiple image
Density48335.2/sq mi

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Hudson County right now.

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Hudson County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Hoboken

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
38° / 23°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
85° / 65°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
207
~57% of year
Annual precip
47″ rain
25″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
High
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Very low
Flood
High

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the New York-Newark-Jersey City area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Hoboken listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
70%
Humid climate
Median household income
$97,100
New Jersey state median
Top industries (state-level)
FinancePharmaLogistics

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

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