Communities / draft for approval, not indexed
Living in Arnona, Jerusalem
One of Jerusalem's fastest-growing areas for English-speaking families, The Jewish Link says, and slightly cheaper than Baka.
- 1,050,151
- Jerusalem residents, end of 2024
- 30 min
- fastest train to Tel Aviv
- ₪2,825,500
- median sold price, all of Jerusalem
- ₪5,700
- median rent a month, all of Jerusalem
Talpiot and Arnona, February 2023. Photo by Hagai Agmon-Snir, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Arnona, Jerusalem, in short
Suits
English-speaking families, religious or not, who want south Jerusalem with newer buildings and a growing Anglo presence, at prices a guide calls slightly below Baka and the German Colony.
Not for
Buyers who need an official count of English speakers or neighbourhood price data before deciding, or investors buying for rental yield.
A 4-room home sold for a median ₪3,169,800 over the last year, new and older homes together. Train to Tel Aviv: 30 min fastest on a weekday. Train to Jerusalem: the city's own station.
The numbers that decide it
These are Jerusalem's city-wide figures.
2 of 10
Socio-economic cluster
Rank 25 of 255 authorities, 1 is lowest. CBS, 2021.
1.2%
Population growth in 2023
1,050,151 residents at the end of 2024. CBS.
₪2,825,500
Median sold price, all homes
Last 12 months, +2.7% on the year. nadlan.gov.il.
₪5,700
Median rent a month
Recorded rents, -2.2% on the year. nadlan.gov.il.
2.4%
Gross rental yield
As nadlan.gov.il computes it, before arnona, upkeep, vacancy and tax.
6,104
Homes started in 2023
2,724 completed the same year. CBS city profile.
What do these numbers mean for your budget?
Message us on WhatsAppThe English-speaking community
The Jewish Link's September 2026 guide names Arnona, Talpiot and nearby Armon HaNatziv among Jerusalem's fastest-growing destinations for English-speaking families, and says Arnona and Talpiot appeal to younger families and new olim because housing is slightly more affordable than in the German Colony or Baka. A 2025 real estate site calls Arnona religiously mixed, with a steadily growing Anglo presence, popular with early nesters planning retirement.
No official source counts English speakers in Arnona. A 2013 Jewish Link column, written by an agent marketing a local project, put them at 25% of the population and said half the neighbourhood was religious, mostly Dati Leumi; an undated aliyah blog gives 20 to 30% for Arnona and Talpiot together.
Kehilat Ma'ayanot, a Masorti congregation of about 100 families that calls itself Jerusalem's first traditional, egalitarian minyan, meets at the Arnona HaTzeira community centre; its members include olim from North and South America and England. Moreshet Avraham, a Masorti congregation with many olim from North America, is in East Talpiot next door. Midreshet Lindenbaum, a women's Torah institute with programmes for overseas students, is in Arnona. In 2022 The Jerusalem Post described a volunteer-run lending library in a converted bus shelter in the Tzameret Arnona towers, with English books.
7,308
olim from the US
1,178
from the UK
26,288
olim in total
Settling in Arnona, Jerusalem, 2014 to 2023. Canada, South Africa and Australia are not counted separately, and the figures stop before most of the recent growth.
Source: Ministry of Aliyah, 2014 to 2023
Where this section comes from (18 sources)
- maayanot.info/about-us, undated, accessed 2026-10-14
- nbn.org.il/masorti-kehillot, undated, accessed 2026-10-14
- remaxjerusalem.com/en/neighborhoods/arnona, undated, accessed 2026-10-14
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synagogues_of_Jerusalem, accessed 2026-10-14; 4 Oct 2013
- jewishlink.news/arnona-an-established-yet-up-and-coming-neighborhood, accessed 2026-10-14; 4 Oct 2013
- bkohelari.org, accessed 2026-10-14
- jerusalemfoundation.org/old-project/albert-elba-cuenca-efrata-elementary-school, undated, accessed 2026-10-14
- nbn.org.il/life-in-israel/community-and-housing/community-guide/jerusalem, updated 29 Jul 2026
- aaci.org.il/contact-us, accessed 2026-10-14
- jerusalem.muni.il/en/residents/aliyah, link only
- easyaliyah.com/blog/the-complete-guide-to-anglo-communities-in-israel, "18 May", year not shown
- data.gov.il/api/3/action/datastore_search?resource_id=d735ad06-8bde-41aa-8350-a15a36bac18f, published 2024-03-12
- buyitinisrael.com/news/top-7-jerusalem-neighborhoods-loved-by-anglos, 25 May 2025
- jewishlink.news/finding-your-place-in-the-holy-city, 18 Sep 2026
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnona, accessed 2026-10-14
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Talpiot, accessed 2026-10-14
- jewishlink.news/discover-the-new-anglo-neighborhoods-you-havent-heard-of-yet, 12 Sep 2024
- blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-little-library-that-could, 5 Mar 2023
Arnona
Where people live
Arnona and Talpiot
Wikipedia says the two names are used interchangeably today; The Jewish Link's 2026 guide calls them distinct neighbourhoods that border each other. Neither is the old Talpiot industrial area, which the guide says is becoming a mixed-use district with residential towers.
Source: Wikipedia · accessed 14 Oct 2026
The 1949 line
Wikipedia places the 1949 cease-fire line at Arnona's eastern border; the 2013 Jewish Link column says the line cut off part of the neighbourhood. The two disagree, so check a specific building against the line before you buy.
Source: Wikipedia · accessed 14 Oct 2026
East Talpiot (Armon HaNatziv) is not Arnona
The neighbourhood to the east was established by Israel in 1973 on land captured in the Six-Day War, and Wikipedia describes it as an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem.
Source: Wikipedia · accessed 14 Oct 2026
Landmarks
The US Embassy moved to Arnona on 14 May 2018. Agnon House, the home of the Nobel laureate S. Y. Agnon, is a museum here.
Source: Wikipedia · accessed 14 Oct 2026
51.9%
of households own their home
36.5%
rent
24
median age
3.7
people per household
9.9%
born in the Americas
14.9%
work outside the city
Schools
589 active schools in Arnona, Jerusalem, by stream
243 Haredi
74 State religious
272 State
No confirmed list of schools with English speakers
Ministry of Education data has no language field, and the only page we found naming Arnona's elementary schools is an undated agency page we could not check, so we do not list them here. Ask the municipality's education department for the schools zoned to your address.
Efrata, in Baka
Efrata elementary, a progressive religious public school on Gad Street in Baka, serves Baka, Talpiot and Katamonim; the source does not name Arnona.
English library for children
The JELLY English youth library is in the Baka community centre on Yissachar Street, in the next neighbourhood.
Getting around
Direct trains from ירושלים/יצחק נבון station, 1.7 km in a straight line from the city's centre point, on one weekday of the current timetable.
To Tel Aviv HaHagana
30min
fastest; median 31 min, 38 direct trains a weekday
To Tel Aviv Savidor
35min
fastest; median 41 min, 43 direct trains a weekday
To Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon
Here
this is the station
The fast train leaves from the city centre
The direct trains to Tel Aviv on this page leave from Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon station, not from south Jerusalem. The minutes are station to station: add the trip from Arnona to Navon.
What homes sold and rented for
Recorded deals from the Tax Authority, last 12 months. They mix new apartments and older homes, so they are neither the new-build price nor the resale price.
Sold, median price
- 3 rooms₪2,561,100
+11.5% on the year
- 4 rooms₪3,169,800
+2.0% on the year
- 5 rooms₪4,228,600
+2.7% on the year
Latest quarter (to Mar 2026): ₪2,717,100 here against ₪2,058,800 nationally.
Rented, median a month
- 3 rooms₪5,400
-1.8% on the year
- 4 rooms₪7,200
-2.7% on the year
- 5 rooms₪9,150
+2.2% on the year
The CBS rent survey, a different series, puts average free-market rent at ₪5,347 a month (Q2 2026) for Arnona, Jerusalem.
What else is being built
6,104
homes started in 2023
2,724 completed. CBS.
356
state land tenders since 2000
54 opened since 2023. Israel Land Authority.
52
Dira BeHanacha lotteries
Latest 27 Jan 2025: 232 homes, 28,230 applicants.
Land offered to developers right now (20)
A tender is land, not homes: anything built on it is years away.
Source: CBS city profile, 2023; Israel Land Authority, 14 Oct 2026; Ministry of Housing, 27 Jan 2025
One of the projects here is ours: Arnona, Jerusalem (coming soon).
Running costs and safety
Arnona, average billed
₪82.0
per square metre a year, 2023. The city’s total residential billing over billed area, not your street’s tariff.
Source: CBS city profile, 2023
Bank of Israel rate
3.25%
The base for mortgage pricing, not a mortgage rate.
Source: Bank of Israel, 13 Oct 2026
Siren warning time
90seconds
to reach a protected space. New buildings must have one: usually a safe room in the apartment (mamad), in some a shared one per floor (mamak). Ask which.
Source: Home Front Command, 14 Oct 2026
The downsides
No hard numbers for Arnona itself
No official source breaks out Arnona: the prices, rent, olim and train figures on this page are Jerusalem's. The only Anglo shares we found are a 2013 agent's 25% and an undated 20 to 30% for Arnona and Talpiot together.
Source: The Jewish Link · 4 Oct 2013
Jerusalem prices, well above the country
In the quarter ending Mar 2026 the median sold home in Jerusalem went for ₪2,717,100, against ₪2,058,800 nationally. A 4-room home's median over the last 12 months was ₪3,169,800 city-wide.
Source: nadlan.gov.il
Low rental yield
nadlan.gov.il computes a gross rental yield of 2.4% for Jerusalem as a whole, before arnona, maintenance, vacancy and tax.
Source: nadlan.gov.il
Building work next door
The old Talpiot industrial area beside Arnona is "currently undergoing a dramatic transformation" into a mixed-use district with new businesses, residential towers and commercial development.
Source: The Jewish Link · 18 Sep 2026
Few shuls confirm an English-speaking community
Of Arnona's shuls, only Ma'ayanot, a Masorti congregation, confirms olim members on its own site. We found no Orthodox shul in Arnona that confirms an English-speaking congregation on its own site.
Who should pick Arnona, Jerusalem, and who should not
Pick it if you are
- Younger families and new olim who want south Jerusalem for less than Baka or the German Colony.
- Families in a religiously mixed neighbourhood, from Dati Leumi to Masorti.
- Early nesters planning to retire in Jerusalem.
Look elsewhere if you are
- Buyers whose budget is near the national median price.
- Investors buying for rental income.
- Orthodox families who need an English-speaking shul confirmed before they move: check one directly first.
Questions about Arnona, Jerusalem
Is Arnona a good neighbourhood for English speakers?
The Jewish Link's September 2026 guide names Arnona, Talpiot and Armon HaNatziv among Jerusalem's fastest-growing destinations for English-speaking families, and Nefesh B'Nefesh lists Arnona among the Jerusalem neighbourhoods olim choose. No official source counts English speakers there.
Source: The Jewish Link · 18 Sep 2026
Is Arnona beyond the Green Line?
Sources disagree. Wikipedia places the 1949 cease-fire line at Arnona's eastern border; a 2013 Jewish Link column says the line cut off part of the neighbourhood. East Talpiot, the neighbourhood to the east, is beyond the line. Check a specific building before you buy.
Source: Wikipedia · accessed 14 Oct 2026
Is there an English-speaking shul in Arnona?
Kehilat Ma'ayanot, a Masorti congregation of about 100 families at the Arnona HaTzeira community centre, counts olim from North and South America and England among its members. Moreshet Avraham in East Talpiot, also Masorti, has many olim from North America. We found no Orthodox shul in Arnona that confirms an English-speaking congregation on its own site.
How much does an apartment cost in Arnona?
There is no official price figure for Arnona alone. Across Jerusalem, the median recorded sale of a 4-room home over the last 12 months was ₪3,169,800, new and older homes together (nadlan.gov.il, 20 Aug 2026). A 2026 guide says Arnona and Talpiot are slightly more affordable than the German Colony or Baka.
Source: nadlan.gov.il
How much is rent in Arnona?
There is no official rent figure for Arnona alone. Across Jerusalem, the median recorded rent over the last 12 months was ₪5,700 a month for all homes and ₪7,200 for 4 rooms (nadlan.gov.il, 20 Aug 2026).
Source: nadlan.gov.il
How long is the train from Arnona to Tel Aviv?
The direct trains leave from Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon, not from south Jerusalem. On a weekday the fastest from Navon to Tel Aviv HaHagana takes 30 minutes and the median 31 minutes, with 38 direct trains that day (Ministry of Transport timetable fetched 14 Oct 2026). Add the trip from Arnona to Navon.
Source: Ministry of Transport GTFS
How long do you have to reach a shelter in Arnona?
90 seconds from the siren, according to the Home Front Command; the time is the same in every Jerusalem alert area.
Source: Home Front Command · 14 Oct 2026
Thinking about Arnona, Jerusalem?
Send us your budget and the size you need. We reply with what is on offer, new-build and resale kept apart.
Get a price alert for Arnona, Jerusalem
One email when the official numbers on this page update. Nothing else from this form.
Sources and method
- CBS Localities File 2024, 31 Dec 2024
- CBS Census 2022, data.gov.il, 31 Dec 2022
- Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, olim by receiving locality (new-olim-by-cities), data.gov.il, 2014 to 2023
- Ministry of Education institutions (mosdot_edu), data.gov.il, 14 Oct 2026
- Ministry of Construction and Housing, Dira BeHanacha lotteries (mechir-lamishtaken), data.gov.il, 27 Jan 2025
- Home Front Command alert areas (districts_heb.json), 14 Oct 2026
- Bank of Israel interest rate (SDMX BR), 13 Oct 2026
- CBS, Local Authorities in Israel 2023, authority profile (publication 1987), 31 Dec 2023; 2023; 2022; Jun 2024; 2021
- CBS, Characterization and Classification of Geographical Units by Socio-Economic Level, 2021, table 2, 2021
- CBS Price Statistics Monthly, table 4.9, average free-market rent, Q2 2026
- Ministry of Transport GTFS, Israel Railways (agency 2), 14 Oct 2026
- nadlan.gov.il (Tax Authority deal records), site's own summary, 20 Aug 2026
- Israel Land Authority tenders (michrazim), 14 Oct 2026
Official figures fetched 14 Oct 2026. Each date is the period the source covers, or for live lists (schools, tenders, timetable, warning times) the day we fetched it. Page written 14 Oct 2026.