Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Few places in the country grade higher. Franklin Township earns an A, 65th among New Jersey's 466 graded towns. The median household earns $161K, CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 95% of the country, and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 93% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $513K for a typical one and 5.2 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register. Franklin Township’s median rent is $3,501 a month, above both the New Jersey town median ($1,778 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). On civic life, just 33 of New Jersey’s 527 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Landsdown Meadows, at 173 acres.
Where Franklin Township beats most towns.
Where Franklin Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Franklin Township is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for jobs and income (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 12%), so the A overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,454 in 1850, a low of 980 in 1920, 3,267 in 2020. The archive holds 16 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 5 maps from 1890 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Franklin Township. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi MuseumLynnewood Hall
Big draw40 mi Theme parkSix Flags Great Adventure2.2M visitors a year
30 mi GardenDrew University
25 mi Stadium & arenaSHI Stadium
32 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
27 mi LakeLake MusconetcongLynnewood Hall: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Six Flags Great Adventure: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Drew University: CUBJONES83 (talk), Public domain · SHI Stadium: Zeete, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Musconetcong: Zeete, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Franklin 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 Franklin Township.
Franklin Township has less food insecurity than most of New Jersey, has household incomes well above the New Jersey norm and sees little violent crime.
Its widest gap with New Jersey is food insecurity: 7.9% of its 9,651 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.3% statewide. Against the 2,097 U.S. towns with household incomes like Franklin Township’s, it is healthier than 68%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
26% of adults have obesity in Franklin Township. Franklin Township beats the New Jersey average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 32% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Franklin Township.
| Franklin Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 28% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 36% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 11% | 14% |
| What stands out | Franklin Township | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 14.3% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.5% | 9.6% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.5% | 7.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Franklin Township School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 293 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Franklin Township is 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Franklin Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Franklin Township for work: only 5% work in town. 1.5% of Franklin Township residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Franklin Township has added 76 jobs, to 820 in 2023.
| Franklin Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $161,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 1.5% | 6.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 16% | 17% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
5.2 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Franklin Township’s trail density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Pine Hill Section of South Branch Reservation | 0.5 mi | 34 |
| 2. Landsdown Meadows | — | 173 |
| 3. Pine Hill Section | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Franklin Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 20° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Franklin Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median household earns $161,169, against $103,556 across New Jersey, one input to its A+ for jobs and income.
Children under 18 are 16% of residents (22% statewide). 53% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across New Jersey.
| Franklin Township | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 53% | 45% | 29% |
| Median age | 46.1 years | 42 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 18% | 18% |
46% women, 54% men
About 118 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.8 points). Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 83% are men (NJ 51%).
| Franklin Township | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.9% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 15.6% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 5.8% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.8% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.1% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.7% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.8% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.4% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.4% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.5% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.9% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 35.7% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,300, single groups can be off by several points
2 within 15 miles of the center of Franklin Township
About 12 of every 100 Franklin Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
4 places in Franklin Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, US
Franklin Township is a township in central Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,267, an increase of 72 (+2.3%) from the 2010 census count of 3,195, which in turn reflected an increase of 205 (+6.9%) from the 2,990 counted in the 2000 census. Most of the township lies on the Hunterdon Plateau with only the eastern section along the South Branch Raritan River being on the lower part of the Newark Basin.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Franklin Township.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | #65 | A | D | A | B+ | A |
| Clinton Township | #81 | A | D | A | B+ | A+ |
| Union Township | #152 | A− | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Raritan Township | #71 | A | C | A+ | B | A |
| Alexandria Township | #331 | C+ | C | — | B− | A |
| Clinton | #161 | A− | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Kingwood Township | #232 | B | D | — | B | A |
| Delaware Township | #13 | A+ | C+ | A+ | B+ | A |
Union Township, Alexandria Township, Clinton and Kingwood Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Franklin Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Franklin Township grades A overall, better than 92% of U.S. towns and #65 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health, A for safety and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
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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