Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey (and the second-most populous in its North Jersey region), after Newark. It is the county seat of Hudson County, the county's most populous city and its largest by area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 292,449, an increase of 44,852 (+18.1%) from the 2010 census count of 247,597. (The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 302,284 for 2024.) With more than 40 languages spoken in more than 52% of homes and as of 2020, 42.5% of residents born outside the United States, it is the most ethnically diverse city in the United States.
The third most-populous city in the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City is bounded on the east by the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay and on the west by the Hackensack River and Newark Bay. A port of entry, with 30.7 miles (49.4 km) of waterfront and extensive rail infrastructure and connectivity, the city is an important transportation terminus and distribution and manufacturing center for the Port of New York and New Jersey with Port Jersey as the city's intermodal freight transport facility and container shipping terminal. The Holland Tunnel, PATH rapid transit system, NJ Transit bus and NY Waterway ferry service connect across the Hudson River with Manhattan.