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Johns Hopkins University spreads about 28,890 students across Baltimore, with the undergraduate heart at the Homewood campus in the city's north end. Homewood is a green, redbrick quad framed by Charles Village, where rowhouse porches and the Saturday farmers market set the pace. You can walk the Stony Run trail to Wyman Park Dell, or wander into the Baltimore Museum of Art, which sits right on the campus edge and stays free. Spring Fair, a student-run weekend, takes over the quads with music and food, and fall fills the stands for lacrosse, the sport Hopkins is known for. Most students walk or bike between neighborhoods, hop the free Blue Jay Shuttle after dark, and ride the Charm City Circulator toward the harbor.
Hopkins has a two-year residency rule: full-time first-year and sophomore students live in university housing or at home with a parent or guardian. The requirement keeps nearly all underclassmen on campus or commuting from family.
Exemptions are narrow and usually cover students who are married, have dependents, or commute from a family home nearby. Most students move off campus as juniors, and the search stays close: Charles Village, Remington, and Hampden all sit within a walk or short bike ride of Homewood. Baltimore rowhouses dominate the listings, so you will deal with a lot of independent landlords rather than big leasing offices, and some blocks require rental licenses, so confirm the unit is properly registered with the city.
Read the lease for who handles snow, trash, and the basement, since older houses can surprise you. Group houses are common and fill through word of mouth, so lean on older students and current tenants when you are hunting.
Housing policies change frequently. Always verify current requirements directly with Johns Hopkins University before signing a lease.
The Hopkins off-campus calendar runs early but not frantic. Most juniors start looking in November and December for the following August, and the best Charles Village and Remington houses near campus get claimed over winter. Leases overwhelmingly start in late summer and run a full twelve months, which lines up with the academic year. If you want a specific street or a big group house, start in late fall.
By February and March the strongest blocks are mostly spoken for, so if you want a specific street or a big group house, lock it down before spring break. The closest Charles Village and Remington houses are the first to go. Move fast once you have roommates lined up. Waiting past early spring narrows your options to less central blocks.
If you are searching late, do not panic: rowhouses turn over all summer as graduating tenants leave, and you can usually find a room into July and August. Summer subletting is common because so many students do research, internships, or co-ops elsewhere. A sublet is a solid way to test a neighborhood before you commit to a year. Spring openings show up too when plans change.
Charles Village is the classic Hopkins neighborhood, packed with painted rowhouse porches and steps from the quad.
Just southwest, Remington is a little quieter and quickly drawing students with its mix of rowhouses and lower per-person splits.
A short walk or bike north, Hampden has a tight-knit small-town feel and its own commercial strip of independent shops.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
A room in a shared Charles Village or Remington rowhouse usually runs about $700-$1,100/month per person. Larger group houses split lower per head, while newer or furnished units near the quad sit higher. The closer you get to Homewood, the more you pay for the walk.
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