Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Because it does well by almost any measure. Bernards Township earns an A+, ranked 17th of 466 in New Jersey. On CDC health estimates it is near the top nationally, it reports less crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $194K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $815K, 8.2 years of the New York metro’s $99K median household income. 74% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Bernards Township, above both New Jersey’s towns (45%) and U.S. towns (29%). Its National Register listings include Lyons Station and Lyons Veterans Administration Hospital Historic District. Only 4 of the 394 New Jersey towns we compare have a lower rate of thefts and burglaries than Bernards Township.
Where Bernards Township beats most towns.
Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge| Widest gap | Bernards Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.6% | 14.3% |
Census counts: 2,377 in 1790, a low of 1,876 in 1810, 27,830 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1809 and 6 maps from 1891 on.
11 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Bernards Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bernards Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw32 mi City parkCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw28 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw31 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw32 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw29 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & MuseumMadison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Central Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bernards Township, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bernards Township.
Bernards Township draws workers from Bridgewater Township and beyond, reports less crime than Harding Township or any other graded neighbor and has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 6.6% of its 19,191 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide. Against the 1,049 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bernards Township’s, it is healthier than 83%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
In Bernards Township, 30% of adults have high blood pressure. Against the New Jersey average, Bernards Township comes out ahead on 19 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. Among adults locally, 14% have been diagnosed with depression and 24% have obesity.
| Bernards Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 28% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 6.9% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Bernards Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.6% | 14.3% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.7% | 12.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.1% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $815K.
The public schools here belong to the Bernards Township School District. Three of the 12 schools are below, and why each made the list. Public school enrollment locally: 1,946 students across 4 schools.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Annin Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,122 | A |
| Ridge High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,577 | A+ |
| Mount Prospect Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 522 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
That grade tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Harding Township (A) comes closest. Reported crimes fell from 65 to 22 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
22,814 jobs are based in Bernards Township, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 15,228 in 2013 to 22,814.
Since 2013, Bernards Township has added 7,586 jobs, to 22,814 in 2023. Its mean commuting time is 33 minutes. Half of commuters travel less than 15 miles. Among residents here, 3.1% live below the poverty line.
| Bernards Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $194,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 3.1% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.8% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Lord Stirling Park, at 1,009 acres with 10 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Trails total 25 miles in 13 parks and preserves. The trail density in Bernards Township is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lord Stirling Park | 10 mi | 1,009 |
| 2. Pleasant Valley Park | 1.2 mi | 51 |
| 3. Harry Dunham Park | 1 mi | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expect July afternoons of 86° and January nights of 21°, with about 21 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in Bernards Township than in 53% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 76% come from inland flooding. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Bernards Township after 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2021.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
9 within 15 miles of the center of Bernards Township
About 4 of every 100 Bernards Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Bernards Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
11 places in Bernards Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, US
Bernards Township () is a township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 27,830, an increase of 1,178 (+4.4%) from the 2010 census count of 26,652, reflecting an increase of 2,077 (+8.5%) from the 24,575 counted in the 2000 census. Located on the eastern end of the Somerset Hills region, the township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the much larger New York metropolitan area, located within the Raritan Valley region.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Bernards Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernards Township | #17 | A+ | D | A+ | A | A+ |
| Basking Ridge | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Harding Township | #10 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Warren Township | #29 | A+ | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Long Hill Township | #187 | B+ | D | — | A− | A+ |
| Millington | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bernardsville | #41 | A+ | D | A | B+ | A+ |
| Lyons | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Long Hill Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Basking Ridge, Millington and Lyons aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bernards Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Bernards Township grades A+ overall, better than 98% of U.S. towns and #17 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health, A+ for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. Bernards Township reports less crime per resident than 98% of U.S. towns, an A+ Safety Grade: 1 violent and 21 property crimes in 2025.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
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