Jersey City is the second-most-populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark. It is the seat of Hudson County as well as the county’s largest city. As of 2017, the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program calculated that Jersey City’s population was 270,753, with the largest population increase of any municipality in New Jersey since 2010, an increase of about 9.4% from the 2010 United States Census, when the city’s population was at 247,597, ranking the city the 75th-most-populous in the nation.

Part of 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. Jersey City shares significant mass transit connections with Manhattan. Redevelopment of the Jersey City waterfront has made the city one of the largest centers of banking and finance in the United States and has led to the district being nicknamed Wall Street West.

After a peak population of 316,715 measured in the 1930 Census, the city’s population saw a half-century-long decline to a nadir of 223,532 in the 1980 Census. Since then, the city’s population has rebounded, with the 2010 population reflecting an increase of 7,542 (+3.1%) from the 240,055 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 11,518 (+5.0%) from the 228,537 counted in the 1990 Census.

Jersey City was a dock and manufacturing town for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Much like New York City, Jersey City has always been a destination for new immigrants to the United States. In its heyday before World War II, German, Irish, and Italian immigrants found work at Colgate, Chloro or Dixon Ticonderoga. In 1908, the first permanent, drinking water disinfection system in the U.S. was installed on the water supply for the City by John L. Leal. The Hudson Tubes opened in 1911, allowing passengers to take the train to Manhattan as an alternative to the extensive ferry system. The Black Tom explosion occurred on July 30, 1916, as an act of sabotage on American ammunition supplies by German agents to prevent the materials from being used by the Allies in World War I.

From 1917 to 1947, Jersey City was governed by Mayor Frank Hague. Originally elected as a candidate supporting reform in governance, the Jersey City History website says his name is “synonymous with the early twentieth century urban American blend of political favoritism and social welfare known as bossism”. Hague ran the city with an iron fist while, at the same time, molding governors, United States senators, and judges to his whims. Boss Hague was known to be loud and vulgar, but dressed in a stylish manner earning him the nickname “King Hanky-Panky”. In his later years in office, Hague would often dismiss his enemies as “reds” or “commies”. Hague lived like a millionaire, despite having an annual salary that never exceeded $8,500. He was able to maintain a fourteen-room duplex apartment in Jersey City, a suite at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, and a palatial summer home in the seaside community of Deal, and travel to Europe yearly in the royal suites of the best ocean liners.

After Hague’s retirement from politics, a series of mayors including John V. Kenny, Thomas J. Whelan and Thomas F. X. Smith attempted to take control of Hague’s organization, usually under the mantle of political reform. None were able to duplicate the level of power held by Hague, but the city and the county remained notorious for political corruption for years. By the 1970s, the city experienced a period of urban decline that saw many of its wealthy residents leave for the suburbs, due to rising crime, civil unrest, political corruption, and economic hardship. From 1950 to 1980, Jersey City lost 75,000 residents, and from 1975 to 1982, it lost 5,000 jobs, or 9% of its workforce.

Beginning in the 1980s, development of the waterfront in an area previously occupied by rail yards and factories helped to stir the beginnings of a renaissance for Jersey City. The rapid construction of numerous high-rise buildings increased the population and led to the development of the Exchange Place financial district, also known as “Wall Street West”, one of the largest banking centers in the United States. Large financial institutions such as UBS, Goldman Sachs, Chase Bank, Citibank, and Merrill Lynch occupy prominent buildings on the Jersey City waterfront, some of which are among the tallest buildings in New Jersey. Simultaneous to this building boom, the light-rail network was developed. With 18,000,000 square feet (1,700,000 m²) of office space, it has the nation’s 12th-largest downtown.

City Ordinance 13.097, passed in October 2013, requires employers with ten or more employees to offer up to five paid sick days a year. The bill impacts all businesses employing workers who work at least 80 hours a calendar year in Jersey City.

Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, and the second-largest city in New Jersey. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 21.080 square miles (54.596 km²), including 14.794 square miles (38.316 km²) of land and 6.286 square miles (16.281 km²) of water (29.82%). As of the 1990 Census, it had the smallest land area of the 100 most populous cities in America.

Jersey City is bordered to the east by the Hudson River, to the north by Secaucus, North Bergen, Union City and Hoboken, to the west, across the Hackensack, by Kearny and Newark, and to the south by Bayonne. Jersey City includes most of Ellis Island. Given their proximity and accessibility by rapid transit to Manhattan, Jersey City and Hudson County are sometimes referred to as New York City’s Sixth Borough.

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 247,597 people, 96,859 households, and 57,631 families residing in the city. The population density was 16,736.6 per square mile (6,462.0/km²). There were 108,720 housing units at an average density of 7,349.1 per square mile (2,837.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 32.67% (80,885) White, 25.85% (64,002) Black or African American, 0.51% (1,272) Native American, 23.67% (58,595) Asian, 0.07% (161) Pacific Islander, 12.81% (31,726) from other races, and 4.42% (10,956) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 27.57% (68,256) of the population.

Source: Wikipedia