Awards & Accolades

Print
Share & Bookmark, Press Enter to show all options, press Tab go to next option

Somerset County is proud to gain recognition from national and statewide agencies, publications and organizations. We are proud of our communities and dedicated to continuous improvement for all of our residents.

-Somerset County Board of County Commissioners

2020

Ptk.org
Raritan Valley Community College's president is only one of 13 college presidents in the U.S. to receive the Shirley B. Gordon Award from the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Read More.

Compact.org
Raritan Valley Community College has been honored with the Eduardo J. Padrón Award for achieving its institution-wide efforts to address issues of public concern. Read More.

NJSpotlight.com
New Jersey has been rated number one in the U.S. for its educational achievement and test scores by NJSpotlight.com. Read More

Niche.com
Somerset County has been ranked the number one “Best Counties to Live In” by Niche.com. Read More

2019

FoxBusiness.com
Somerset County has been ranked the tenth wealthiest county in the country by FoxBusiness.com. The county has an average household income of $119,731. Read More

Niche.com
Hillsborough has been named as one of the “Best Places to Live”  in New Jersey by  Niche.com. The town received an “A” based on good public schools, a low crime rate, a diverse community, nightlife and housing. Read More

New Jersey Family
Montgomery Township has been rated as one of the best family-friendly towns. The town received a high ranking based on its excellent school system and a growing business community. Read More

SafeWise.com
Montgomery has been ranked as the 69th safest city in America. This is the fourth year the town has made the list.  Read More

U.S. Census Bureau
Two Somerset County municipalities were among the state's 30 fastest-growing communities from 2008 to 2017.  Franklin Township was No. 7 in terms of the number of people gained; Raritan Borough was No. 13 in terms of percentage gain. Read More

County Health Rankings
Somerset County has been ranked the third-healthiest county in New Jersey for the fourth year in a row in an annual nationwide survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read More

2018

New Jersey Monthly
Five Somerset County schools are in the Top 50 of the magazine's 2018 Top Public High Schools in the state: Ridge (10), Montgomery (11), Bernards (19), Watchung-Hills (46) and Hillsborough (50). Read More

Niche.com
Somerset County gets top rankings from Niche.com in a variety of areas. We are No. 1 in New Jersey for Best Counties to Live In, Healthiest Counties, Best Counties for Families and Best Counties for Outdoor Activities. We are No. 3 in the state among Best Counties for Millennials and Counties with the Best Public Schools, and No. 11 among the state's Most Diverse Counties. Nationally, Somerset County is in Niche.com's Top 50 for Best Counties for Families (29) and Best Counties to Live In (44). Read More

SmartAsset.com
Somerset County is No. 21 in SmartAsset's 2018 ranking of the Happiest Counties in America. Read More

County Health Rankings
Somerset County has been ranked the third-healthiest county in New Jersey for the third year in a row in an annual nationwide survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read More

2017

SmartAsset.com
Somerset County ranked third among New Jersey's 21 counties and 77th nationally in financial health, based on an analysis of each county’s poverty and unemployment rates, bankruptcies and citizens’ debt as a percentage of income. Read More

New Jersey Monthly

Six Somerset County municipalities – Bernards (5), Montgomery (35), Bedminster (37), Bernardsville (42), Hillsborough (46) and Branchburg (49) – are in the Top 50 of the magazine’s 2017 listing of Best Places to Live in New Jersey. Read More

Niche.com

Five school districts in Somerset County – Bernards (7), Montgomery (8), Somerset Hills (23), Hillsborough (31) and Bridgewater-Raritan (41) – are in the Top 50 of Niche.com’s annual ranking of the best school districts in the country. Read More

SmartAsset.com
Somerset County is third among New Jersey’s Top 10 counties for highest per capita net worth, and 14th in the national Top 20, according to SmartAsset.com. Read More

NJ Family
Four Somerset County municipalities - Montgomery (2), Bernards (12), Warren (44) and Bedminster (47) - made the Top 50 in the 2017 NJFamily.com listing of New Jersey's Best Towns for Families. The ranking looked at the entire state and measured each municipality against a host of important factors, including school district quality, crime rates, affordability, commute times, percentage of families who live there, access to hospitals and general lifestyle factors. In all, 17 Somerset County municipalities made the list, out of 511 statewide. Read More

24/7 Wall St.
In its January 2017 list of “The Best Counties to Live In,” 24/7 Wall St. ranked Somerset County in 16th place. Read More 

County Health Rankings
Somerset County once again has been ranked the third-healthiest county in New Jersey in an annual nationwide survey conducted by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read More

2016

American Planning Association
Downtown Somerville was named one of the 2016 Great Places in New Jersey by the state chapter of the American Planning Association. Read More

Public-Private Partnership Award
The Somerset County Branding Committee was recognized at the “Public Private Partnership Awards,” sponsored by the New Jersey League of Municipalities and NJBIZ, New Jersey’s statewide weekly business paper. Read More

Newsweek
Five Somerset County high schools were ranked among the Top 500 high schools in the nation by Newsweek magazine: Ridge (71), Bernards (88), Bridgewater-Raritan (108), Watchung (131) and Hillsborough (217). The results of state testing, Advanced Placement tests and SAT and ACT exams all were factors, as were graduation rates, the ratio of counselors to students, the percentage of students participating in Advanced Placement courses and the percentage of students who enroll in college after graduation. Read More

SafeWise
Montgomery Township is ranked  No. 67 in the Safewise.com list of "Top 100 Safest Cities in America 2016," which rates 20,000 townships across the U.S each year. Read More

NJ Family
Three Somerset County municipalities - Montgomery (2), Branchburg (37) and Hillsborough (47) - made the Top 50 in the NJFamily.com listing of New Jersey's Best Towns for Families.

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps
This collaborative program between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute ranked Somerset County 3rd in New Jersey across a multitude of health factors. Read More

2015

U.S Census Bureau
Somerset County was ranked 7th in population growth among New Jersey's 21 counties.  Read More

SmartAsset
A new study from SmartAsset shows the places across New Jersey where property tax dollars are being spent most effectively.  Somerset County is 2nd in the listing’s Top 5, after Sussex County and ahead of Morris, Middlesex and Ocean counties. Read More

NerdWallet
Five Somerset County municipalities – Somerville, Warren, Bridgewater, Branchburg and Montgomery— are in the Top 50 in NerdWallet's recent study on the best places to start a business in New Jersey. Read More

Money Magazine
Hillsborough was the only New Jersey municipality to make Money Magazine’s list of Best Places to Live for 2015. The township was ranked 30th overall among “small cities” nationwide, lauded for its central location, open space and highly ranked school system (see next Accolade below). Read More

Newsweek
Five high schools in Somerset County were named to the national news magazine’s list of America's Top High Schools 2015, which assessed schools based on a broad range of data to determine which institutions do the best job of preparing students for college. The five local schools and their rankings are: Ridge High School (37), Hillsborough High School (42), Bernards High School (70), Bridgewater-Raritan High School (118) and Watchung Hills Regional High School (142).
Read More

SmartAsset
Somerset County was ranked 2nd among the Top 10 counties in New Jersey due to a high showing in each of the factors considered by the online financial-decisions advisor, including business establishment growth, GDP growth, new building permits and municipal bond investment. Read More

SafeWise 
The home-security industry experts at SafeWise named four Somerset County municipalities to its report on The 50 Safest Cities in New Jersey-2015. Bernards is 4th, Montgomery 7th, Hillsborough 11th and Warren 18th. Read More

Advocates for Children of New Jersey
Somerset County was ranked 3rd in the annual New Jersey Kids Count rankings. The ranking measures progress in improving the lives of children across 13 areas, including demographics, family economics, health, safety, early care and education. Read More

2014

Movoto Real Estate
Somerville was ranked 5th in the real estate blog’s list of Best Small Cities in New Jersey. Three other Somerset County towns - Bound Brook, Franklin and Manville - were also listed in the Top 50. Read More

ValuePenguin
This consumer research firm named several Somerset County towns to its Safest Cities list. Bridgewater was named 2nd in the Big Cities category; in the Midsize Cities category, Bernards was 1st, Montgomery was 2nd, and Hillsborough was 3rd.
Read More

Movoto Real Estate
Somerset County was ranked 5th in the real estate blog’s list of Best Counties in the United States. Read More

U.S. News and World Report
Somerset County was ranked 8th nationwide in the publication’s ranking of Healthiest Counties for Kids.

National Bureau of Economic Research
Somerset, Middlesex, and Hunterdon Counties made the list of Top 10 Happiest Metro Areas in the country. Read More

Forbes Magazine
The magazine listed Somerset County as 10th on the America’s Richest Counties list.

Money Magazine The magazine listed Franklin Township as 26th on the Best Places to Live 2014 list.

2013

New Jersey Monthly 
Two Somerset County towns were listed on the magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Live in NJ list: Warren Township was 2nd and Hillsborough Township was 10th.  

2012

United States Census Bureau
Somerset County was ranked 8th nationwide in median household income - $95,825.  

2011

New Jersey Monthly
Three Somerset County towns were listed on the magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Live in NJ list: Peapack-Gladstone was 2nd, Bernards Township was 3rd and Bernardsville Borough was 8th.  

2009

Bureau of Economic Analysis
Somerset County was ranked 11th on the Top 100 Highest-Income Counties in the United States list.

Free viewers are required for some of the attached documents.
They can be downloaded by clicking on the icons below.

Acrobat Reader Download Acrobat Reader Windows Media Player Download Windows Media Player Word Viewer Download Word Viewer Excel Viewer Download Excel Viewer PowerPoint Viewer Download PowerPoint Viewer