357,467 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.7% since 2020)
302 square miles of land · 1,184 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
5 active community water systems list Somerset County in the area they serve, reporting 320,767 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - SHORT HILLS surface water · private · NJ0712001 | 217,230 served |
| FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP DEPT OF PUBLIC WORKS buys surface water · local government · NJ1808001 | 57,150 served |
| SOUTH BRUNSWICK TWP W DI buys surface water · local government · NJ1221004 | 45,450 served |
| ROCKY HILL W DEPT groundwater · local government · NJ1817001 | 687 served |
| NJ AMERICAN WATER - TWIN LAKES groundwater · private · NJ1803002 | 250 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 121 people were held in Somerset County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2020), or 52 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2015 it was about 231.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
18 school districts have their office in Somerset County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $223.2 million — $211.8 million to run schools, about $26,320 per student, plus $6.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $165.4 million local (mostly property tax), $56.4 million state, $6.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $6.9 million.
Spent $228.5 million — $213.6 million to run schools, about $29,224 per student, plus $3.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $161.7 million local (mostly property tax), $58.3 million state, $12.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $71.5 million.
Spent $172.5 million — $164.9 million to run schools, about $22,704 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $111.7 million local (mostly property tax), $57 million state, $4.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $35.4 million.
Spent $139.8 million — $132.3 million to run schools, about $27,887 per student, plus $2.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $104.5 million local (mostly property tax), $36.4 million state, $3.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $47.3 million.
Spent $124.9 million — $117.6 million to run schools, about $25,510 per student, plus $2.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $96.7 million local (mostly property tax), $31.8 million state, $2.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $46 million.
Spent $105 million — $92.4 million to run schools, about $25,119 per student, plus $7.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $33.8 million local (mostly property tax), $65.9 million state, $10 million federal. Long-term debt: $4.6 million.
Spent $61.3 million — $57.1 million to run schools, about $26,032 per student, plus $2.5 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $39.6 million local (mostly property tax), $22.1 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.3 million.
Spent $64.6 million — $54.7 million to run schools, about $26,450 per student, plus $8.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.8 million local (mostly property tax), $36.3 million state, $10.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $21.6 million.
And 10 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Somerset County about $160.6 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Very Low.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
397 bridges in Somerset County: 130 in good condition, 233 fair, and 34 poor (8.6%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| I-78 EASTBOUND over I-78 RAMP "A" · built 1963 | 60,048 vehicles a day |
| I-78 WESTBOUND over US 202-206 · built 1964 | 56,615 vehicles a day |
| I-78 WESTBOUND over TRIBUTARY OF DEAD RIVER · built 1965 | 50,135 vehicles a day |
| I-78 EB over US 202 & 206 · built 1965 | 44,922 vehicles a day |
| I-78 WB over WASHING VALLEY RD(CR620) · built 1965 | 42,420 vehicles a day |
| I-287 SB over US 22 WB+I-287 RAMP "NC" · built 1960 | 42,223 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $44.3 million of work in Somerset County in fiscal 2025, about $128 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for New Jersey are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Somerset County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Somerset County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of New Jersey: the state government and every county in New Jersey.
Nearby counties: Middlesex County (14 mi) · Hunterdon County (15 mi) · Union County (18 mi) · Mercer County (20 mi) · Morris County (21 mi) · Essex County (25 mi).