Best PlacesSomerset County, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Somerset County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Somerset County ranks 52nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $157,341, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state finances, childcare costs, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Somerset County
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.
The best areas in Somerset County
The parts of Somerset County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Basking Ridge & Bernardsville
Local pay stretches further, tree cover is thicker, and more adults hold degrees.
Hillsborough, Belle Mead & Skillman
Schools score higher, though streets are more car-dependent.
Bradley Gardens, Raritan & Neshanic Station
Prices have run up less, though fewer households have young kids.
Franklin Park
It is quieter and incomes run higher.
Bedminster, Bridgewater & Peapack and Gladstone
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Somerville, Manville & Finderne
Homes cost less, though disaster risk is higher.
North Plainfield, Warren & Watchung
Transit reaches more jobs, though crime runs higher.
Somerset & East Franklin
Scores close to North Plainfield, Warren & Watchung, except that advertised internet is slower here.
Bound Brook & South Bound Brook
Commutes are shorter, though health care is harder to reach.
Somerset County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Somerset County's strengths and weaknesses
Somerset County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. High incomes and big-city access follow.
The one real hole is state finances, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Somerset County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$157,341 median, better than 99% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
Where Somerset County ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 1% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,549 a month, better than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Short commute31.4 minutes each way, better than only 11% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Somerset County
A household needs to earn about $178,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Somerset County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $157,341, 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 Somerset County's effective rate of 1.92%, 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 Somerset County
Somerset County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Somerset County.
Who works in Somerset County, and how
Work in Somerset County centers on professional & technical and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Somerset County
Somerset County has more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. The coast is about 26 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Somerset County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Somerset County growing, and who is moving in?
Somerset County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the New York, NY metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Somerset County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Somerset County, month by month
Somerset County sees roughly 58 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 Somerset County
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 23 miles away.
The best schools in and around Somerset County
Schools across Somerset County average a C+, better than 59% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Prospect Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Hamilton Primary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Dutch Neck Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Montgomery Upper Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Montgomery Lower Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Thomas R Grover Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Ridge High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- West Windsor-plainsboro High School SouthA · 68% proficient
- West Morris Mendham High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Somerset County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Somerset County 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 Somerset County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Somerset County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Somerset County
Is Somerset County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Somerset County ranks 52nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, high incomes, and big-city access, 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 Somerset County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $589,387. The overall cost of living runs about 16% above the national average. Set against a $157,341 median income, cost of living beats 99% of counties.
Is Somerset County safe?
Yes, Somerset County is safer than 94% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $157 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Somerset County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Somerset County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Basking Ridge & Bernardsville, Hillsborough, Belle Mead & Skillman, and Bradley Gardens, Raritan & Neshanic Station. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Somerset County good for families?
Schools beat 59% of counties, crime safety beats 94%, and childcare runs $1,549 a month.
Is Somerset County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 91% of counties. About 23% of workers already work from home.
Compare Somerset County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Somerset County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Somerset County 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.
Somerset County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Somerset County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Somerset County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Somerset County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Somerset County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Somerset County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.