Somerville, New Jersey
Area Profile
13,410 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Somerville, in Somerset County.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 14 sourcesSomerville ranks in the top 15% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.0% and median household income of $103,760. The unemployment rate is published for Somerset County, NJ, which contains Somerville, rather than for Somerville alone.
In the public schools here, 45% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 9.7 students for every teacher.
Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 237 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, against 5 the year before. 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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment across Somerset County, NJ, which contains Somerville, is 4.0%, lower than in 61% of the 4,226 measured US cities.
Employment across Somerset County, NJ, which contains Somerville, grew 1.1% over the past year, to 189,821 employed residents.
55% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 91% of measured US cities.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsSomerset County, NJ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $114,037 | 90th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftSomerset County, NJ’s figurefiling years 2022–2023 | $126,304 | 95th percentileof 4,101 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$9,3162024 ACS 5-Year | $103,760 | Top 16%of 29,223 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$3,8652024 ACS 5-Year | $56,587 | Top 12%of 31,420 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.1% | Top 29%of 31,773 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±2.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 30.1 min | Bottom 33%of 31,543 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year | 54.7% | Top 9%of 31,919 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 66.8% | 21st percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentSomerset County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026 | 189,821 | Top 34%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)Somerset County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026 | +0.8% | Top 34%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)Somerset County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026 | +1.1% | Top 15%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceSomerset County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026 | 197,771 | 66th percentileof 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 86.8% | Top 18%of 31,513 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Mean annual wageNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $86,310 | Top 17%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Median annual wageNew York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS | $61,430 | Top 19%of 3,729 | 2025 OEWS |
| Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.2% | 90th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)Somerset County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026 | −1.1% | Top 11%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateSomerset County, NJ’s figureJuly 2026 | 4.0% | Top 39%of 4,226 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year | 17.1% | 80th percentileof 31,433 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 644,700 | $39,680 |
| Retail Salespersons | 202,080 | $38,280 |
| Registered Nurses | 197,740 | $119,720 |
| Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners | 183,030 | $42,840 |
| General and Operations Managers | 177,850 | $157,000 |
| Cashiers | 173,830 | $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.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Somerset County, NJ, which contains this city.
45% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 61% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 9.7 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerville High School | Somerville Public School District | 1,072 | 11.4 | 27% | 57% |
| Van Derveer Elementary School | Somerville Public School District | 745 | 10.1 | 50% | 52% |
| Branchburg Central Middle School | Branchburg Township School District | 458 | 8.0 | 71% | 88% |
| Somerville Middle School | Somerville Public School District | 339 | 8.7 | 23% | 49% |
| Stony Brook School | Branchburg Township School District | 310 | 7.9 | 80% | 70% |
28.5% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →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.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $2,486, some 38% above the $1,802 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 96% of the median household income here of $103,760.
The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,802 a month.
A median home at $435,700 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $148,608, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
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.
The figures above are measured against Somerville’s median household income of $103,760, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area’s figure2023 | 112.6 | Bottom 16%of 3,700 | 2023 |
| Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year | 2.9 | Bottom 36%of 26,815 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 43.0% | 5th percentileof 31,717 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±3032024 ACS 5-Year | 6,131 | 90th percentileof 32,177 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $1,978 | Bottom 20%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $2,981 | Bottom 20%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $2,486 | Bottom 16%of 4,072 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year | $1,802 | Bottom 12%of 23,120 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$20,6142024 ACS 5-Year | $435,700 | 85th percentileof 29,111 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes2024 ACS 5-Year | $10,000+ | — | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$17,6842024 ACS 5-Year | $148,608 | Top 7%of 27,548 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 27.4% | Top 44%of 22,950 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±222024 ACS 5-Year | 0 | 1st percentileof 32,330 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 1st percentileof 31,895 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 2.5% | 23rd percentileof 31,769 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±902024 ACS 5-Year | 151 | 73rd percentileof 32,330 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 17% since 2020, reaching 14,428 in 2024.
Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 14,428 residents in 2024, up 1.3% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.
94% of the 237 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.
Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Somerset County, which contains Somerville, 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 17.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Middlesex County, NJ 4,830 people · 26% of arrivals
- Union County, NJ 2,251 people · 12% of arrivals
- Morris County, NJ 1,121 people · 6.1% of arrivals
- Hudson County, NJ 916 people · 5.0% of arrivals
- Essex County, NJ 854 people · 4.7% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Middlesex County, NJ 3,200 people · 17% of departures
- Union County, NJ 1,223 people · 6.6% of departures
- Hunterdon County, NJ 1,202 people · 6.5% of departures
- Morris County, NJ 919 people · 5.0% of departures
- 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. This is the figure for Somerset County, NJ. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
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.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 45.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 21°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 86°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 45°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 77% of it.
Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, heat wave, lightning, cold wave, tornado, wildfire, landslide, coastal flooding, hail, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.
Somerville's police department reported 126 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 625.
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.
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.
Offenses are reported to the FBI by Somerville’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around Somerville (Somerset County) rather than Somerville itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.
- 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.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 92.6% | Top 36%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 25 mi | Bottom 35%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 5 | Top 45%of 4,226 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 4.5% | Top 34%of 31,588 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newark Liberty Intl | EWR | 25 mi | 9,999 ft |
| John F Kennedy Intl | JFK | 44 mi | 14,511 ft |
| Philadelphia Intl | PHL | 59 mi | 12,000 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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Other cities in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
Same metropolitan area, measured the same way| City | County | Population | Area Score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | New York County | 8,483,844 | 61 | New York vs Somerville |
| Newark | Essex County | 310,178 | 53 | Newark vs Somerville |
| Jersey City | Hudson County | 294,078 | 63 | Jersey City vs Somerville |
| Yonkers | Westchester County | 209,978 | 61 | |
| Paterson | Passaic County | 158,735 | 45 | |
| Elizabeth | Union County | 137,302 | 55 | |
| Toms River | Ocean County | 94,956 | 58 | |
| Clifton | Passaic County | 89,379 | 58 | |
| New Rochelle | Westchester County | 82,769 | 68 | |
| Mount Vernon | Westchester County | 72,427 | 56 | |
| Bayonne | Hudson County | 71,553 | 55 | |
| East Orange | Essex County | 70,090 | 52 |
Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyCompare
Put Somerville side by side with a similar place.
Moving to Somerville from somewhere else?
You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.
Data & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Safety | Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency | 2025 calendar year |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics | 2025 OEWS |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 codes in Somerville
1 ZIP areaEvery ZIP area in Somerville with census figures of its own, largest first.
| ZIP | Population | Median household income | Median home value | Area Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08876 | 23,380 | $122,884 | $485,100 | 73 |