Best PlacesBridgewater, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bridgewater, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bridgewater ranks 503rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on high incomes by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bridgewater
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Bridgewater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bridgewater ranks high
- Household income$191,795 median, better than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
Where Bridgewater ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,549 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bridgewater
A household needs to earn about $216,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bridgewater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $191,795, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Bridgewater's effective rate of 1.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bridgewater
Bridgewater runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bridgewater.
Who works in Bridgewater, and how
Work in Bridgewater centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bridgewater
Bridgewater has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns. The coast is about 27 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Bridgewater and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bridgewater, month by month
Bridgewater sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 67° | 52° | 39° |
| July | 90° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Bridgewater
Newark Liberty International sits about 25 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 23.5 million passengers in 2025, with 242 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Bridgewater
Schools across Bridgewater average a B, better than 70% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hamilton Primary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Milltown Primary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Van Holten Primary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- William Annin Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Eisenhower Intermediate SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Hillsborough Township Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridge High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Hillsborough High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Bridgewater-raritan High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bridgewater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bridgewater measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Bridgewater against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bridgewater
Is Bridgewater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bridgewater ranks 503rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on high incomes, big-city access, and population health, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bridgewater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $731,124. The overall cost of living runs about 19% above the national average. Set against a $191,795 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is Bridgewater safe?
Yes, Bridgewater is safer than 96% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $120 per resident a year.
Compare Bridgewater with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bridgewater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bridgewater represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Bridgewater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bridgewater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bridgewater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bridgewater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bridgewater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bridgewater detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.