This is better positioned for the Jersey City sub.

As someone that lives in Jersey City and loves it, let me open with two points:

A) your friends in Manhattan will rarely want to commute out to JC unless they live directly on the Path. If you have friends in NJ, the hosting bit will be helpful. If you’re expecting your NYC friends will come over with the same frequency, it’s possible, but I’d say unlikely.

B) I will never go back to voluntarily having roommates - i’ve never had problems with them, but I enjoy my own place far too much.

If you’re open to roommates you should consider digging around Manhattan as well, but your overall payment is pretty great for NYC.