Somerset County, New Jersey
Somerset County | |
|---|---|
Location within the U.S. state of New Jersey | |
New Jersey's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 40°34′N 74°37′W / 40.56°N 74.61°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| Founded | May 14, 1688 |
| Named after | English county of Somerset |
| Seat | Somerville |
| Largest municipality | Franklin Township (population) Hillsborough Township (area) |
| Government | |
| • Commissioner director | Shanel Robinson (D, term ends December 31, 2023) |
| Area | |
• Total | 304.95 sq mi (789.8 km2) |
| • Land | 301.87 sq mi (781.8 km2) |
| • Water | 3.09 sq mi (8.0 km2) 1.00% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 345,361 |
• Estimate (2024) | 357,467 |
| • Density | 1,100/sq mi (440/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| Congressional districts | 7th, 12th |
| Website | co |
Somerset County is a county located in the north-central part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 13th-most-populous county, with a population of 345,361, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 21,917 (+6.8%) from the 2010 census count of 323,444. Somerset County constitutes part of the New York metropolitan area. Its county seat is Somerville. The most populous place in the county was Franklin Township, with 68,364 residents at the time of the 2020 census, while Hillsborough Township, with 55.00 square miles (142.4 km2), covered the largest total area of any municipality. The county is part of the Central Jersey region of the state.
In 2012, 49.8 percent of Somerset County residents were college graduates, the highest percentage in the state. Somerset County was recently ranked number 3 of 21 NJ counties as one of the healthiest counties in New Jersey, according to an annual report by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. Somerset County was created on May 14, 1688, from portions of Middlesex County.