On this page (5 sections)
The short answer
If you are one or two people without a mountain of luggage, take the train and pocket the difference: the rail chain totals about $31 against a road trip the airport prices at $157 to $177 before tip. If you are a group, buried in bags, or transferring at an hour when trains thin out, the car earns its price, and splitting it four ways changes the math entirely. Either way the clock rules: the airport's own guide says to plan at least 2 hours for any transfer between airports, and that is before traffic, security and baggage recheck have their say.
By rail: about $31, via Penn Station
The rail route is a chain of four short legs. Ride the JFK AirTrain to Jamaica ($8.75 at the exit). Take the LIRR to Penn Station, $5.25 off peak or $7.25 peak with a CityTicket, about 20 minutes on the train. At Penn, buy an NJ Transit ticket to Newark Liberty International Airport station: $17.25, and the EWR AirTrain ride to the terminals is included in that ticket. Total: $31.25 to $33.25, with every transfer signposted.
The airport's guide also blesses a second routing for downtown starters: subway to the World Trade Center, PATH to Newark Penn Station, NJ Transit onward. It works, but it adds a system and its own fares, so the Penn Station chain is the default this page recommends. Two practical notes: NJ Transit trains toward Trenton and the Jersey Shore both call at the airport station, so take whichever leaves first, and buy the NJ Transit ticket before boarding, in the app or from a machine.
By taxi and rideshare: the $170 reality
No flat fare exists for this trip. A yellow cab runs the standard meter plus a $20 Newark surcharge, and the TLC's rule on tolls is the one that stings: the passenger pays them in both directions, the driver's empty return included. Official estimates land at $157 to $177 with a drive time of 60 to 100 minutes, the spread depending on which page you read, and none of that includes the tip.
Rideshare offers no escape from the geography: Uber's own route page publishes an average of $171 and 67 minutes for JFK to EWR, and surge pricing moves from there. The one road option with different math is a pre-booked car service or shared van, covered below. Meter mechanics and the full surcharge rules live on the taxi guide; app pickup details, including the Terminals 5 and 7 relocation, are on the rideshare guide.
By shuttle or car service
Pre-booked shuttles split the difference: door to door like a cab, priced like a booking rather than a meter, and slower than both trains and taxis at the margin. The airport quotes 60 to 100 minutes for shuttle transfers to EWR and names two operators on its own pages, ETS Air Shuttle and Airlink New York, alongside Carmel as its authorized car service. For a group with luggage, a booked van at a known price is the calmest version of this trip; book ahead, since these are reservations, not lines at the curb. The shuttle guide covers the operators and how booking works.
The two-hour rule, and the checklist that comes with it
The airport's transfer guidance is unambiguous and worth taking literally: plan at least 2 hours between airports, plus extra for traffic, security and baggage recheck. The checklist behind that number, from the same guide: collect your checked bags at the airport you land at, travel to the other airport, recheck the bags with your departing airline, and clear TSA again. Nothing transfers itself between JFK and Newark.
Build the schedule backwards from your EWR departure: boarding time, minus the airline's check-in cutoff, minus 2-plus hours for the transfer, and you have the moment you need to be walking out of JFK arrivals. If that moment is tight, the train's immunity to traffic is worth more than its price advantage. Heading to LaGuardia instead, the transfer is shorter and has a free leg; that route has its own page, and the transport hub compares everything else.