Somerset County, NJ

County Profile

349,846 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Somerset County, NJ.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

70out of 100
Area Score
Top 15% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 13% of 1,463 counties measured76
SchoolsTop 5% of 1,377 counties measured87
Growth742nd of 1,453 counties measured49
Housing affordability927th of 1,462 counties measured71
Climate927th of 1,463 counties measured63
Physical resilience789th of 1,463 counties measured56
AccessTop 29% of 1,463 counties measured89
Economic stabilityTop 1% of 1,463 counties measured98
The quick read

Somerset County ranks in the top 13% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.0% and median household income of $140,374.

Public schools test above most of the state: 56% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 5% of published profiles for schools.

Residential permitting has slowed: 765 units authorized over the past twelve months, 17% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
349,846
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$140,374
Top 1% nationally
Density
1,159/sq mi
301.9 sq mi of land
Median age
41.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Somerset County
New Jersey
Nearest major airport
EWR
25 mi · Newark Liberty Intl
Median home value
$552,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.0%, lower than in 53% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 1.1% over the past year, to 189,821 employed residents.

58% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 99% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $140,374 is higher than in 99% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$114,03796th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$126,30499th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,2942024 ACS 5-Year$140,374Top 1%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,1842024 ACS 5-Year$72,193Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$116,286Top 2%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%Top 2%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year33.3 minBottom 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year57.8%Top 1%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year63.8%5th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026189,821Top 13%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.8%Top 41%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+1.1%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026197,77187th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year86.4%Top 3%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year3.4%97th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.1%Top 9%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.0%Top 47%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year22.7%98th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.72.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.0% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

2021202220232024140k122k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $140,374 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides644,700$39,680
Retail Salespersons202,080$38,280
Registered Nurses197,740$119,720
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners183,030$42,840
General and Operations Managers177,850$157,000
Cashiers173,830$35,950

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

56% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 10.5 students for every full-time teacher across 83 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
84
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
10.5
across 83 of them
Math proficiency
55.9%
Top 15% in New Jersey
Reading proficiency
67.2%
Top 15% in New Jersey
The 12 largest of 84 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Bridgewater-Raritan High SchoolBridgewater-Raritan Regional School District2,67313.052%80%
Hillsborough High SchoolHillsborough Township Public School District2,37713.658%76%
Franklin High SchoolFranklin Township Public School District2,13411.933%58%
Watchung Hills Regional High SchoolWatchung Hills Regional High School District1,65311.642%72%
Montgomery High SchoolMontgomery Township School District1,61113.270%83%
Ridge High SchoolBernards Township School District1,57712.169%85%
Central Jersey College Prep Charter School · charterCentral Jersey College Prep Charter School1,39612.070%81%
Hillsborough Township Middle SchoolHillsborough Township Public School District1,24611.270%78%
Bridgewater-Raritan Middle SchoolBridgewater-Raritan Regional School District1,22011.563%83%
North Plainfield High SchoolNorth Plainfield School District1,14111.412%45%
William Annin Middle SchoolBernards Township School District1,12210.079%83%
Auten Road Intermediate SchoolHillsborough Township Public School District1,11210.072%76%

28.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against New Jersey’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 13% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 112.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division is up 59% over five years, and up 4.8% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,486, some 22% above the $2,033 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $2,486 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $99,400 a year, about 71% of the median household income here of $140,374.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $2,033 a month.

A median home at $552,100 costs 3.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $170,007, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
112.6

Prices here run about 13% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
29.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$2,486
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$2,033
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$552,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Somerset County’s median household income of $140,374, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2023112.6Bottom 4%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+4.8%72nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+58.5%95th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Lakewood-New Brunswick, NJ Metropolitan Division’s figure2026 Q2+101.9%64th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year3.2Bottom 23%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year74.3%49th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1562024 ACS 5-Year133,63993rd percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,978Bottom 4%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,981Bottom 3%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$2,486Bottom 2%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$522024 ACS 5-Year$2,033Bottom 1%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,3742024 ACS 5-Year$552,10097th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes2024 ACS 5-Year$10,000+—2024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,6722024 ACS 5-Year$170,007Top 1%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Bottom 32%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±952024 ACS 5-Year20837th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%2nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.0%1st percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4312024 ACS 5-Year2,83765th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

49/ 100
Ranks 742 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 357,467 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Somerset County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $114,037, below the $126,304 of households that moved out.

At 2.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
765
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.2
Bottom 39% nationally
Year over year
−17%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
55.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024357k345k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
30%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$114,037
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$126,304
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Middlesex County, NJ 4,830 people · 26% of arrivals
  2. Union County, NJ 2,251 people · 12% of arrivals
  3. Morris County, NJ 1,121 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  4. Hudson County, NJ 916 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  5. Essex County, NJ 854 people · 4.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Middlesex County, NJ 3,200 people · 17% of departures
  2. Union County, NJ 1,223 people · 6.6% of departures
  3. Hunterdon County, NJ 1,202 people · 6.5% of departures
  4. Morris County, NJ 919 people · 5.0% of departures
  5. Mercer County, NJ 765 people · 4.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251k618
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−38%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.5 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SOMERVILLE SOMERSET AP, 4.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

56 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane, with inland flooding alone responsible for 78% of it.

Inland floodingElevated
Strong windModerate
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, lightning, cold wave, tornado, wildfire, coastal flooding, landslide, hail, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Somerset County has a modeled homicide rate of about 1.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 3.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 8.9 per 100,000 residents in Somerset County.

Homicide
1.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
3.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
8.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
8.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Somerset County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Newark Liberty Intl at 25 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year95.8%Top 1%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle25 miTop 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year2.7%Top 1%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newark Liberty IntlEWR25 mi9,999 ft
John F Kennedy IntlJFK44 mi14,511 ft
Philadelphia IntlPHL58 mi12,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
70
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.