Best PlacesSomerset, NJ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Somerset, 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.
Somerset ranks 768th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Somerset
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.
Somerset's strengths and weaknesses
Where Somerset ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 92% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of cities
Where Somerset ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of cities
- Short commute34.3 minutes each way, better than only 8% of cities
- School gradeD+, better than only 10% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Somerset
A household needs to earn about $137,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Somerset home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $128,952; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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's effective rate of 1.81%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Somerset
Somerset runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Somerset.
Who works in Somerset, and how
Work in Somerset centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Somerset
Somerset has more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The coast is about 21 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Somerset and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Somerset, month by month
Somerset sees roughly 54 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
The nearest airport, Trenton Mercer, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 22 miles away.
The best schools in and around Somerset
Schools across Somerset average a D+, better than 10% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Amsterdam Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Knollwood Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Holland Brook SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Readington Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Branchburg Central Middle SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Conackamack Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Hunterdon Central Regional High School DistrictB− · 45% proficient
- Piscataway Township High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- North Brunswick Township High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Somerset school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Somerset 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Somerset suits
Families
Schools land around the 10th percentile and crime safety beats 63%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of cities and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Somerset
Is Somerset a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Somerset ranks 768th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, big-city access, and population health, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Somerset expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $460,433. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $128,952 median income, cost of living beats 76% of cities.
Is Somerset safe?
Yes, Somerset is safer than 63% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $193 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Somerset?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 54 pleasant days a year, more than 1% of cities.
Is Somerset good for families?
Schools beat 10% of cities, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $1,549 a month.
Compare Somerset with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Somerset. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Somerset 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Somerset: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Somerset: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Somerset: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Somerset: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Somerset 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.