Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,516, settled in 1852. A regional job hub with 8,646 jobs.
Trash day: look up yoursFor most people who can afford it, yes. Raritan grades B+ overall, ranked 206th of 466 in New Jersey. Residents are healthier than 89% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and the median household earns $108K. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $542K for a typical one and 5.5 times the New York metro’s $99K median household income. Raritan’s median rent is $2,112 a month, above both the New Jersey town median ($1,778 a month) and the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). Raritan has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Gen. John Frelinghuysen House and Raritan Station. Raritan is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 84% of U.S. towns.
Where Raritan beats most towns.
6,881 counted in 2010 and 7,835 in 2020; an estimated 8,516 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 8.7% since 2020, after 13.9% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within New Jersey), ordered by how far Raritan is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,009 in 1870, 7,835 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1725 and 6 maps from 1891 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Raritan. Close and well known come first.
Big draw37 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw39 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw35 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw38 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw39 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a year
Big draw35 mi BeachConey IslandMadison 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 · Coney Island: OptimumPx, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Raritan, 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 Raritan.
Raritan draws workers from Bridgewater Township and beyond and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in New Jersey.
8,646 jobs are based in Raritan, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 22.2 minutes, against 30.5 across New Jersey.
Most working residents leave Raritan for work: only 7% work in town. Raritan’s average trip to work is 22 minutes. The top destinations are Bridgewater Township (9%), Branchburg Township (5%) and New York (4%).
| Raritan | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 30 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $108,000 | $113,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 16% | 17% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8% | 6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 431 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within NJ on state tests and graduation
Within New Jersey it is healthier than 55% of the 468 graded towns: New Jersey sets a high bar.
15% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Raritan. Raritan beats the New Jersey average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 29% of adults have high blood pressure in Raritan.
| Raritan | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 32% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 28% | 35% |
| What stands out | Raritan | NJ |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.7% | 9.6% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.7% | 7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.6 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Duke Island Park, at 26 acres.
| Raritan | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.4% | 11% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Duke Island Park | 0.8 mi | 26 |
| 2. Basilone Park | — | 4 |
| 3. Elizabeth Ave Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Raritan has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 22° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Children under 18 are 14% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 46% of residents (40% statewide). Raritan has grown 8.7% since 2020, to 8,516 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 14% of Raritan residents are 65 or older.
| Raritan | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 14% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 18% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 45% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across New Jersey, 50.8% of residents are women.
| Raritan | NJ | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.2% | 11.6% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.2% | 10.2% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.3% | 8.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.2% | 12.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.7% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.6% | 12.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.8% | 13.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.2% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.8% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.9% | 9.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.5% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.2% | 15% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.9% | 6.7% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.3% | 26.1% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.2% | 17.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Raritan.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Raritan's reported crime rate is below New Jersey's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 10 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Raritan | New Jersey towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.5 per 1,000 residents | 7.5 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The typical Raritan home is worth about $542,000, up 2% in a year, 6% below the New Jersey typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5 within 15 miles of the center of Raritan
About 10 of every 100 Raritan residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across New Jersey.
Where Raritan’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Raritan on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Raritan.
Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, US
Raritan is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,835, its highest decennial census count ever and an increase of 954 (+13.9%) from the 2010 census count of 6,881, which in turn had reflected an increase of 543 (+8.6%) from the 6,338 counted at the 2000 census. The borough's name is derived from the Raritans, a Native American group of Lenape. The name of the tribe is said to mean "forked river", "stream overflows", or "point on a tidal river".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Raritan.
| Town | NJ rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raritan | #206 | B+ | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Bridgewater Township | #144 | A− | D | — | B+ | A+ |
| Hillsborough Township | #97 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Bradley Gardens | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Somerville | #243 | B | D | — | C+ | A |
Raritan, Bridgewater Township and Somerville report no FBI crime data of their own. Bradley Gardens isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Raritan with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Raritan grades B+ overall, better than 69% of U.S. towns and #206 of 466 in New Jersey. It grades A for health 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−.
6 notable people were born here, including Ben Carnevale and Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Sr..
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