Hudson County, New Jersey

Hudson County is a county in New Jersey, United States, directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan in New York City. It had a population of 724,854 at the 2020 census, an estimated 735,033 by 2025, and covers 46.19 square miles (119.6 km2) centred near 40°44′N 74°05′W — making it the second-smallest county in New Jersey by land area and, at roughly 15,700 people per square mile, its most densely populated.

Jersey City is the county seat, and the city’s downtown postal code is 07302. The county holds 12 municipalities — four cities, five towns, two townships and one borough — and no unincorporated territory; every acre of Hudson County sits inside one town government or another. It runs on Eastern Time, and its FIPS code is 34017.

Towns & Villages in Hudson County

All 12 of Hudson County’s municipalities are incorporated; New Jersey townships are full municipal governments here, not the informal survey grids used in states like Indiana, so there is no separate townships section below.

Two pairs are easy to mix up. East Newark is its own half-square-mile borough wedged between Kearny and Harrison — it is not a neighborhood of the city of Newark, which sits across the county line in Essex County. And North Bergen township takes its name from the old township of Bergen (now part of Jersey City), not from neighboring Bergen County to its north; the two are unrelated jurisdictions that happen to share a word.

ZIP Codes

• 07302, 07304, 07305, 07306, 07307, 07310, 07311 — Jersey City (downtown, the Heights, Journal Square, Greenville and the west side each carry their own code)
• 07002 — Bayonne
• 07030 — Hoboken
• 07032, 07099 — Kearny (07099 is a unique ZIP for a single large facility)
• 07047 — North Bergen
• 07086 — Weehawken
• 07087 — Union City
• 07093 — West New York (also serves Guttenberg)
• 07094, 07096 — Secaucus (07096 is a PO Box–only code)
• 07029 — Harrison (also serves East Newark)

Guttenberg and East Newark are the county’s two municipalities with no ZIP code of their own; both are small enough, and close enough to their neighbor’s post office, that the Postal Service folds them into West New York’s and Harrison’s delivery areas.

Geography

Hudson County occupies a narrow peninsula between the Hudson River on the east and Newark Bay and the Hackensack River on the west, with the Hudson Palisades — a basalt cliff line running through Weehawken, Union City and North Bergen — forming its most distinctive natural feature. Almost none of the county’s land is undeveloped; its largest open space is Liberty State Park in Jersey City, built on former rail yards facing the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The county borders Bergen County to the north, Essex County to the west and Union County to the southwest by land; water forms every other boundary, separating Hudson County from New York County (Manhattan) across the Hudson River and from Richmond County (Staten Island) across the Kill Van Kull.

Demographics

Hudson County counted 724,854 residents at the 2020 census, with the New Jersey state government’s latest population estimate putting the county at 735,033. Jersey City and Bayonne are its two largest communities. Median household income runs $91,795, below the New Jersey state figure of $103,556, reflecting a county with a larger renter population and a bigger share of recent immigrants than the state average. At roughly 15,700 residents per square mile, Hudson is New Jersey’s densest county and one of the densest in the country outside New York City itself.

Economy & Local Life

Jersey City’s waterfront skyline, built up since the 1980s on former rail and shipping land, has earned it the nickname “Wall Street West”: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other financial firms run major back-office and trading operations there, and professional, scientific and technical services employ roughly 51,700 people countywide, ahead of health care and social assistance (about 43,900) and finance and insurance (about 41,400). Jersey City Medical Center anchors health care locally, alongside Christ Hospital and Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen. Higher education includes Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, Saint Peter’s University and New Jersey City University in Jersey City, and Hudson County Community College. The Port Jersey container terminal in Bayonne and Jersey City keeps freight and logistics a major employer along the waterfront. Jersey City’s Heights neighborhood holds an annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel each September, one of the county’s longest-running Italian-American street festivals.

History

The New Jersey legislature created Hudson County on February 22, 1840, carving it out of Bergen County to give the rapidly growing riverfront towns their own government. The county’s name honors Henry Hudson, the English explorer who charted the river and harbor for the Dutch East India Company in 1609. Weehawken, within the county’s later boundaries, was the site of the 1804 duel in which Vice President Aaron Burr killed former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, one of the most consequential events in early American political history. In 1927 the Holland Tunnel opened between Jersey City and Manhattan, the first vehicular tunnel built under the Hudson River, followed by the Lincoln Tunnel in 1937; both tunnels reshaped the county from an industrial and rail hub into a commuting gateway to New York City, a role that accelerated as its waterfront rail yards and piers were redeveloped into office towers and housing from the 1980s onward.

Getting There

Interstate 78 crosses the county to end at the Holland Tunnel entrance in Jersey City, and the New Jersey Turnpike’s Hudson County Extension (also signed I-78) runs through Jersey City and Bayonne via the Pulaski Skyway and Newark Bay Extension. Route 3, Route 495 and the Lincoln Tunnel approach carry traffic through North Bergen, Secaucus and Weehawken.

• New York City (Manhattan) — about 1 mile east, across the Hudson River
• Newark — about 8 miles west
• Elizabeth — about 10 miles southwest
• Paterson — about 15 miles north

Newark Liberty International Airport, about 6 miles from Jersey City, is the nearest commercial airport. The nearest Amtrak station is Newark Penn Station in Essex County, about 8 miles away and reachable directly by PATH train from Journal Square, Harrison and Jersey City without a car.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Hudson County?
It sits in northeastern New Jersey, directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan, bordered by Bergen County to the north and Essex and Union counties to the west and southwest.

What is the population of Hudson County?
724,854 at the 2020 census, with a New Jersey state government estimate of 735,033 by 2025.

How big is Hudson County?
46.19 square miles (119.6 km2) of land, making it New Jersey’s second-smallest county by area but its most densely populated.

What is the county seat of Hudson County?
Jersey City, New Jersey’s second-largest city, with a 2020 population of 292,449.

How many municipalities are in Hudson County?
12 — four cities, five towns, two townships and one borough — and none of the county’s land is unincorporated.

What ZIP codes are in Hudson County?
Nineteen in active use, led by Jersey City’s seven internal codes (07302, 07304–07307, 07310–07311); Guttenberg and East Newark share their neighbors’ ZIPs rather than having their own.

Why is Jersey City called “Wall Street West”?
Because major financial firms including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase moved large trading and back-office operations to its redeveloped waterfront starting in the 1980s, drawn by proximity to Manhattan at a fraction of the cost.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in New Jersey.