08876Somerville, New Jersey

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 08876.

75out of 100
Area Score
Top 8% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 10% of 6,210 published ZIP areas78
SchoolsTop 32% of 4,422 published ZIP areas66
GrowthTop 1% of 5,428 published ZIP areas91
Housing affordabilityTop 33% of 6,685 published ZIP areas89
Climate4670th of 6,789 published ZIP areas63
Physical resilience3550th of 6,709 published ZIP areas56
Access4537th of 6,791 published ZIP areas87
Economic stabilityTop 3% of 6,742 published ZIP areas86
The quick read

08876 ranks in the top 10% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.9% and median household income of $122,884.

In the public schools here, 20% 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, up 4640% on the prior year.

At a glance

Population
23,380
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$122,884
Top 9% nationally
Density
1,461/sq mi
16.0 sq mi of land
Median age
39.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Somerville
New Jersey
Metro area
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
Nearest major airport
EWR
28 mi · Newark Liberty Intl
Median home value
$485,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 71% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 189,234 employed residents.

57% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 92% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 91% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$7,527$122,884Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,829$64,937Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate5.1%Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute30.4 minTop 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher57.1%Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment189,234Top 23%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.2%Top 47%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.6%Top 17%June 2026
Labor force196,920Top 23%June 2026
Labor force participation72.4%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$86,310Top 13%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$61,430Top 15%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.8%Bottom 10%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 29%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024123k109k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $122,884 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

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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Somerville, NJ, the city containing this ZIP code.

20% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 46% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 9.7 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
9.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
20.1%
Top 44% in New Jersey
Reading proficiency
46.4%
Top 40% in New Jersey
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Somerville High SchoolSomerville Public School District1,07211.410%35%
Van Derveer Elementary SchoolSomerville Public School District74510.114%44%
Branchburg Central Middle SchoolBranchburg Township School District4588.037%67%
Somerville Middle SchoolSomerville Public School District3398.712%52%
Stony Brook SchoolBranchburg Township School District3107.954%58%

28.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against New Jersey’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,840 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.9 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
18.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,840
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$485,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.95Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate61.1%Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±40010,090Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$55$1,840Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,908$485,100Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income18.0%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2.0%Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
91/ 100
Top 1% of 5,428 published city profiles

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.

94% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 17.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
237
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
17.7
Top 3% nationally
Year over year
+4640%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
93.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Somerville, NJ, the city containing this ZIP code.

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, 2.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation45.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

56 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and hurricane.

Strong windModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeElevated
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, heat wave, lightning, cold wave, tornado, wildfire, landslide, coastal flooding, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Somerset County records 1.8 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 3.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 9.5 per 100,000 residents in Somerset County.

Homicide
1.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
3.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
9.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
8.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Somerset County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 08876 rather than 08876 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 28 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Newark Liberty IntlEWR28 mi9,999 ft
John F Kennedy IntlJFK48 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
75
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

08876 vs Somerville

How this ZIP area compares with Somerville as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

08876
Somerville
Median household income
$122,884
vs
$103,760
Per capita income
$64,937
vs
$56,587
Population density
1,461/sq mi
vs
5,736/sq mi
Median home value
$485,100
vs
$435,700
Median gross rent
$1,840
vs
$1,802
Homeownership rate
61.1%
vs
43.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher
57.1%
vs
54.7%
Poverty rate
5.1%
vs
5.9%
Median age
39.6
vs
35.9

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.