The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
Click any dot to open that city: jobs, pay, rent, commute, county economy and climate. Dot size follows population; colours follow the state flag.
By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Somerset County is a county of New Jersey with 349,846 residents. Its economy produced $54,494 million in 2024 (ranked #7 of 21 counties) and had 190,468 jobs with an average annual pay of $106,418 (#1 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.7% in 2026M09. It is part of the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metropolitan area (central county).
Somerset County produced about $54,494 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 6.4% of the combined output of the 21 counties of New Jersey that BEA reports (about 3.7% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 7th of 21 on that measure. Per resident that is $155,766, 72% above the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $90,541. In current dollars output grew 5.3% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 190,468 jobs located in Somerset County on average in 2024, spread over 10,950 employer sites (about 17 jobs per site). That is 0.54 jobs for every resident, above the 0.40 of the typical county in New Jersey, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $106,418, 33% above the average of all counties in the state ($106,418 against $79,933). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs fell 0.1% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are professional and technical services (14.7% of private jobs, $162,074 a year on average), health care and social assistance (13.8% of private jobs, $61,905 a year on average), retail trade (9.8% of private jobs, $44,794 a year on average). Together they hold 38.3% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is information at $236,048 a year, followed by management of companies ($232,619). The county is specialised in several industries: management of companies (3.5 times the US share, 11,267 jobs); information (2.1 times the US share, 7,504 jobs); professional and technical services (1.9 times the US share, 25,627 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: health care and social assistance ($61,905), retail trade ($44,794), administrative and waste services ($71,948). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Somerset County was 3.7%, 10% below the average of the state's counties (3.7% against 4.1%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 195,616. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 3.6% (2026M04) to 5.0% (2025M09); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $140,374 (ACS 2020–2024), 36% above the state median ($140,374 against $103,556). The guide covers 5 cities with this as the main county: North Plainfield, Somerset, Hillsborough, Bradley Gardens, Somerville. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,752 in North Plainfield to $2,670 in Bradley Gardens, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Somerset County in output are Hudson County, Mercer County, Monmouth County, Union County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 21 counties of New Jersey ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 349,846 | 13 of 21 |
| GDP 2024 | $54,494 million | 7 of 21 |
| GDP per resident | $155,766 | 1 of 21 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 190,468 | 11 of 21 |
| Average annual pay | $106,418 | 1 of 21 |
| Job change vs 2023 | -0.1% | 18 of 21 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.7% | 4 of 21 |
| Median household income | $140,374 | 2 of 21 |
Federal jobs in New Jersey (304) →All cities of New JerseyState guide: New Jersey
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Somerset County.
| City ⇅ | Population ⇅ | Median household income ⇅ | Median rent ⇅ | Median home value ⇅ | Bachelor's+ ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Plainfield | 22,809 | $87,349 | $1,752 | $374,700 | 24.3% |
| Somerset | 22,720 | $121,028 | $2,121 | $438,800 | 62.0% |
| Hillsborough | 22,585 | $144,112 | $1,986 | $435,700 | 60.6% |
| Bradley Gardens | 14,165 | $177,849 | $2,670 | $546,300 | 65.3% |
| Somerville | 13,410 | $103,760 | $1,802 | $435,700 | 54.7% |
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional and technical services | 25,627 | 14.7% | $162,074 | 1.93 |
| Health care and social assistance | 24,063 | 13.8% | $61,905 | 0.88 |
| Retail trade | 17,015 | 9.8% | $44,794 | 0.89 |
| Manufacturing | 15,552 | 8.9% | $127,994 | 0.99 |
| Administrative and waste services | 12,950 | 7.4% | $71,948 | 1.15 |
| Accommodation and food services | 11,880 | 6.8% | $32,905 | 0.69 |
| Wholesale trade | 11,347 | 6.5% | $146,275 | 1.51 |
| Management of companies | 11,267 | 6.5% | $232,619 | 3.51 |
| Construction | 7,531 | 4.3% | $95,586 | 0.75 |
| Information | 7,504 | 4.3% | $236,048 | 2.10 |
| Finance and insurance | 6,611 | 3.8% | $179,534 | 0.86 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 6,526 | 3.8% | $51,689 | 0.81 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 5,562 | 3.2% | $44,686 | 0.97 |
| Educational services | 3,309 | 1.9% | $49,453 | 0.84 |
| Real estate and rental | 3,185 | 1.8% | $105,729 | 1.08 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 3,143 | 1.8% | $37,973 | 0.98 |
| Mining, oil and gas | 403 | 0.2% | $97,349 | 0.56 |
| Utilities | 328 | 0.2% | $128,263 | 0.45 |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 176 | 0.1% | $51,719 | 0.11 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 195,616 |
| Employed residents | 188,474 |
| Unemployed residents | 7,142 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.7% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 190,468 |
| Employer sites | 10,950 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bergen County | 962,316 | $105,805 million | $109,948 | 438,240 | $80,639 | 3.5% |
| Middlesex County | 871,290 | $86,705 million | $99,513 | 430,555 | $82,400 | 4.2% |
| Essex County | 863,002 | $76,180 million | $88,273 | 349,076 | $88,369 | 5.1% |
| Hudson County | 718,323 | $65,736 million | $91,513 | 273,729 | $94,901 | 3.8% |
| Ocean County | 654,362 | $31,709 million | $48,458 | 189,912 | $57,452 | 4.0% |
| Monmouth County | 645,353 | $52,693 million | $81,650 | 274,000 | $70,560 | 3.7% |
| Union County | 579,290 | $51,947 million | $89,674 | 229,010 | $84,322 | 4.4% |
| Camden County | 527,257 | $34,620 million | $65,660 | 205,819 | $69,051 | 4.5% |
| Passaic County | 521,012 | $29,074 million | $55,803 | 170,830 | $63,668 | 4.7% |
| Morris County | 514,528 | $74,395 million | $144,589 | 298,824 | $101,208 | 3.5% |
| Burlington County | 467,805 | $40,867 million | $87,360 | 211,549 | $70,647 | 3.8% |
| Mercer County | 385,864 | $56,807 million | $147,219 | 264,154 | $90,503 | 4.2% |
| Somerset County | 349,846 | $54,494 million | $155,766 | 190,468 | $106,418 | 3.7% |
| Gloucester County | 306,954 | $19,111 million | $62,261 | 124,439 | $58,070 | 3.9% |
| Atlantic County | 276,270 | $19,423 million | $70,305 | 125,157 | $59,219 | 4.8% |
| Cumberland County | 153,305 | $8,514 million | $55,533 | 59,688 | $57,729 | 6.1% |
| Sussex County | 145,807 | $6,729 million | $46,149 | 38,360 | $58,693 | 3.7% |
| Hunterdon County | 130,160 | $9,867 million | $75,807 | 46,663 | $75,099 | 3.3% |
| Warren County | 110,849 | $6,162 million | $55,586 | 33,264 | $64,742 | 3.8% |
| Cape May County | 94,941 | $7,801 million | $82,169 | 42,713 | $48,574 | 5.1% |
| Salem County | 65,275 | $7,363 million | $112,806 | 21,587 | $67,562 | 5.1% |
349,846 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$54,494 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.7% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
190,468 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $106,418 (BLS QCEW).