Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Branchburg Township grades A− overall, 138th of 466 graded towns in New Jersey. Residents are healthier than 97% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its schools outperform 87% of the state's and the median household earns $169K. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $723K for a typical one and 7.3 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Branchburg Township’s median household income is $169,000, against $113,000 in New Jersey’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. Branchburg Township is home to Raritan Valley Community College.
Where Branchburg Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Branchburg Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,143 in 1850, 14,940 in 2020. The archive holds 6 maps from 1891 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Branchburg Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw39 mi BeachConey Island
Big draw38 mi MuseumNational September 11 Memorial & Museum
Big draw40 mi Stadium & arenaBarclays Center
Big draw40 mi GardenHigh Line5.0M visitors a year
Big draw33 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a yearMetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain · National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Paul Sableman, CC BY 2.0 · Barclays Center: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · High Line: Wil Fyfordy, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Branchburg 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 Branchburg Township.
Branchburg Township draws workers from Bridgewater Township and beyond, has less tooth loss than most of New Jersey and has better schools than Hillsborough Township or any other neighbor.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is tooth loss: 5.1% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.6% statewide. Against the 1,723 U.S. towns with household incomes like Branchburg Township’s, it is healthier than 80%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
15% of Branchburg Township adults have been diagnosed with depression. Branchburg Township beats the New Jersey average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 13% of Branchburg Township adults report frequent mental distress.
| Branchburg Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 11% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Branchburg Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.1% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 14.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A is the best School Grade on its borders; Hillsborough Township (A−) is next. Its A for schools comes with a C− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $723K.
Its public schools are run by the Branchburg Township School District. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whiton Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 617 | A |
| Stony Brook SchoolTop results in townGrades 4–5 | Grades 4–5 | 310 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests
12,165 jobs are based in Branchburg Township, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Branchburg Township for work: only 7% work in town. 2.8% of residents live below the poverty line in Branchburg Township. The top destinations are Bridgewater Township (8%), New York (4%) and Bernards Township (3%).
| Branchburg Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 19% | 16% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.8% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
5.3 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is South Branch Greenway, 344 acres with 1.7 miles of trail. The trail density in Branchburg Township is 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. South Branch Greenway | 1.7 mi | 344 |
| 2. Joe Stala Park | 0.8 mi | 25 |
| 3. Olde Towne Park | 0.1 mi | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Branchburg Township’s median rent is $2,268 a month. The typical Branchburg Township home is worth about $723,000, up 2.7% in a year, 26% above the New Jersey typical home.
| Branchburg Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,268 a month | $1,778 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 83% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Branchburg Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Branchburg Township's reported crime rate is well below New Jersey's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025.
| Branchburg Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
185 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 29 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 185 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Branchburg Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4 within 15 miles of the center of Branchburg Township
About 7 of every 100 Branchburg Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as New Jersey.
Where Branchburg Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Branchburg Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, US
Branchburg 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 14,940, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 481 (+3.3%) from the 2010 census count of 14,459, which in turn had reflected a decline of 107 (−0.7%) from the 14,566 counted at the 2000 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Branchburg Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branchburg Township | #138 | A− | C− | — | A | A+ |
| Hillsborough Township | #97 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Neshanic Station | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bridgewater Township | #144 | A− | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Bedminster Township | #76 | A | D | A | A− | A+ |
| Bradley Gardens | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Neshanic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bridgewater Center | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Branchburg Township and Bridgewater Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Neshanic Station, Bradley Gardens, Neshanic and Bridgewater Center aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Branchburg Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Branchburg Township grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #138 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A+ for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
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