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Hillsborough

Hillsborough, NJ

  • Duke Farms
    At Duke Farms, you'll find over 1000 acres of land to explore native species, sustainability efforts, and the area's natural beauty.

What We Love About Hillsborough

  • Chock-full of modern conveniences 
  • 15-minute drive to highway to NYC or even less to train stations 
  • Plenty of food options, including privately owned restaurants, fast food chains, specialty food shops, and supermarkets 
  • Above-average school system 
  • Near major universities and colleges
  • Abundant shopping
  • Mix of new and old housing stock
  • Home to several manufacturing companies
  • Lots of scenic farmland and trails for hiking
  • Community gardens at Duke Farms

Hillsborough is located in Somerset County, New Jersey

From NYC it takes barely an hour to get here by car. Hillsborough is part of the Skylands region of NJ, which is made up largely of farms, fairs, rivers, mountains, parks, wineries and outdoor activities. Even though you have some rural living, as with most of NJ, you are not far from shopping, groceries, dining and work.

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Ratings and Reviews

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Quick Facts

Hillsborough is located in Somerset County, New Jersey – Skylands Region – an hour from NYC by car.

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Quick facts about Hillsborough Township:

COMMUTE TIME (Hour:Minutes) ⓘ

These times are based on info from New Jersey Transit and Google Maps. Shortest times are given. Use our map above to calculate more accurate commute times to any address.
1:00+

Car ride to NYC.

n/a

Train service to NYC.

2:10+

Bus service to NYC.

SIZE ⓘ

People per square mile gives you an idea of how much breathing room a town has. NYC has around 27,000 while a well equipped walkable town might have around 5,000. Smaller towns with more single family homes and large yards usually have under 1,000. Click on more info below to see where we get our data. 
39,950

Population estimate, July 1, 2019

54.54

Square miles

702

People per square mile

HOUSING ⓘ

Median cost to rent or own is basically the average cost of renting or owning per month in any given town. It’s not exact. Median values include the most expensive dwellings and the cheapest dwellings all averaged together, but with some weight added to higher concentrations in the data set. Just gives you some basic basis of comparison between towns. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.

$1,709

Median gross rent, 2014-2018

$2,769

Median selected monthly owner costs – with a mortgage, 2014-2018

$23,300

Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2014-2018

PROPERTY TAX ⓘ

Approximate tax on $100K of home value. Ex: If you pay $500K for a house, multiply the number in the left column by 5 to get an idea of what you will have to pay each year in property taxes.

$2,340

Property taxes per $100,000 in home value.

Compare tax rates in Hillsborough Township area.

EDUCATION ⓘ

Gives you the ability to quickly see how much of a town has graduated from high school or higher ed. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.
97.4%

High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018

59.0%

Bachelor’s degree or higher, percent of persons age 25 years+, 2014-2018

INCOME ⓘ

Gives you an idea of how much people make in this town compared to other towns you look at. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.

$53,515

Median household income (in 2018 dollars), 2014-2018

AGE DISTRIBUTION ⓘ

Gives you an idea of how old your neighbors might be. Click on more info below to see where we get our data.
23.2%

Persons under 18 years

12.7%

Persons 65 years and over

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE STATS & INFO ON RACE, INCOME AND HOUSING

See more stats on race, income and housing
(Hint: Sort by using the “All Topics” pull down menu)

See more stats on property taxes in NJ (green is lower, red is higher)

Does it flood? (FEMA flood maps)

Schools

The schools in Hillsborough are considered above average.

See the school scores

Walking and Biking Score

NOTE: All scores over 50 are actually good! Scores under 50 mean you would have a more difficult time getting around on foot or bike for part of all of the town.

See walking and biking scores

Political Climate in New Jersey

As for most of New Jersey fewer than half of registered voters actually vote and most of the elections are decided by a fairly tight margin. Historically New Jersey has elected more Republicans to office; however, in recent elections conservatives are being edged out somewhat, in part because there are fewer registered Republicans than Democrats in most of the state. About 80% of the counties have more registered Democrats than Republicans, but elections are still tight. In general Republicans are better at getting out the vote on election night than Democrats. 

Somerset County Voting Results by Town

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School Scores – click on schools please

Walking and Biking Score – any score over 50 is good​

The Full Story of Hillsborough, NJ

What is it like living in Hillsborough, NJ?

In the southern part of Somerset County and spanning 55 square miles, the large town of Hillsborough has transformed over the last quarter-century—prompted by the growth of nearby Princeton—from a mostly rural, agricultural area into a bustling, mixed suburban and rural community with an excellent school system, robust volunteer-based sports programs for kids, and comparatively reasonable house prices for the area. In 2013, Money Magazine listed Hillsborough as the 16th Best Place to Live in the nation. Running between Somerville and Montgomery/Princeton, the very busy (congested during rush hours) commercial and commuter artery of Rte. 206 serves as the town center, with loads of restaurants, retail stores, medical offices, a movie theater, and a mix of middle- and upper-middle-income housing. Near the intersection of Rte. 206 with Amwell Road are townhouses, condos, a set of business condos, chain restaurants, everyday shopping, including a large ShopRite supermarket. The southern and western portions of the township remain part farmland and part forest preserve, respectively. Bridgewater Commons mall is about five miles away, and Princeton’s vast array of cultural activities are nearby. 

That’s Hillsborough in a nutshell!

Click to read more

Schools

Hillsborough has an excellent school district. Elementary schools are Hillsborough Township Elementary (520 students, K-4), Amsterdam Elementary (511 students, K-4), Sunnymead Elementary (490 students, pre-K-4), Woods Road Elementary (475 students, pre-K-4), Woodfern Elementary (363 students, K-4), and Triangle Elementary (369 students, K-4). Auten Road Intermediate houses Hillsborough’s 1,165 5th and 6th graders; Hillsborough Township Middle School 1,209 7th and 8th graders. Hillsborough High School (420 students, grades 9-12) offers more than 20 sports teams and 80 extracurricular activities. The public schools provide a free Chromebook to each student starting in the 3rd grade.

 

Parks and Recreation

The town’s previously rural nature remains in a few pockets, such as the 4,000-acre Sourland Mountain Preserve, which offers hiking trails, mountain biking, and a stocked fishing pond. At the northern edge of town is the popular 2,700-acre Duke Farms, the estate previously owned by the heiress Doris Duke. This private nature reserve has an environmental education center, a large community garden, hiking and biking trails, a gorgeous orchid greenhouse, a farm-to-market cafe, summer season farmers market, and seasonal family oriented environmental activities. 

Just over the eastern side of the township running south out of Manville along Rte. 533 is the Delaware & Raritan Canal Park, with a walking/biking trail along the D&R Canal paralleling the Millstone River. The large Colonial Park in neighboring Franklin Township is a lovely spot for picnics, with biking paths, open fields, paddle boats, public tennis courts, and a beautiful rose garden.

 

Dining and Nightlife

There are plenty of dining options in Hillsborough, including burger places, pizzerias, sub shops, falafel restaurants, Indian food, and more. Cafe Graziella, Petrock’s Bar and Grille, The Falafel House, Thai Chili House and Ricky’s Thai, Old Man Rafferty’s, Sakura Sushi and Lee’s Sushi, La Costenita, and Hillsborough Star Diner Restaurant are favorites. Petrock’s Bar and Grille and Old Man Rafferty’s do double duty as bars, and there’s also The Landing Hillsborough or The Extra Pint in neighboring Manville for karaoke. 

 

Arts and Culture

Hillsborough Township is 25 minutes away from both Princeton and Rutgers Universities, each thriving centers of arts and culture. Princeton has the lovely Princeton University Art Museum and the beloved McCarter Theatre. New Brunswick has the Rutgers’ Zimmerli Art Museum and Rutgers’ myriad lectures, concerts, films, and other cultural offerings, as well as the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center and the State Theatre. Hillsborough is home to the Somerset Valley Players, a community theater group based in a cute 19th-century little red schoolhouse.

 

Housing Stock

Hillsborough’s growth since the mid 1970s was spurred by the growth of nearby Princeton, whose expensive homes priced-out many of the new professionals working there. Hence Montgomery and Hillsborough, 15 minutes north of  Princeton, took on this demand for more reasonably priced housing. In recent decades, single-family home developments have been constructed mostly on the east side of Rte. 206, such as County Classics, with more than 800 homes. 

The condo, townhome, and apartment growth dating to the 1970/80s is mostly in the central and northern sections of town, around Amwell Road, where you’ll find Beekman Gardens and New Center Greens. Sunnymeade Run apartment complex is in the northern part of town off Rte. 206 on Falcon Road. Lower-priced apartments and condos can also be found mostly east of Rte. 206 toward Millstone Borough. Several new apartment complexes are in the planning stages.

 

The Commute

There is no train station in the township. The closest stations are about 15 minutes away in Bridgewater and Somerville, however most commutes will be faster using the New Brunswick station (an extra 5- to 10-minute drive), because it’s on the main line that goes straight up and down the east coast, usually requiring no transfers from one train to another. The trip from Bridgewater to NYC Penn Station takes as little as 73 minutes, with a change in Newark. Cost is $14.75 one-way, $421 for a monthly pass. The train trip from New Brunswick is slightly cheaper, but parking is far more expensive. Some people take Uber. 

Before the pandemic, daily express buses left every half hour from 6 to 7:30 am from the Hillsborough Promenade shopping center. The cost was $15 one way and $420 monthly, with a time of about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Return trips ran from 4:30 pm to 6 pm. Due to Covid-19 service was suspended; please check for updates at https://www.coachusa.com/bus-schedules.

Driving to midtown Manhattan takes about 1.5 hours via Rte. 287 and then the NJ Turnpike.

Newark International Airport 45 minutes by car.

Neighborhoods

  • Belle Meade, Pleasantview, Rock Hill, and Zion can be found in the southern section of Hillsborough
  • Montgomery (not the Township) and Cloverhill in the western part
  • Neshanic, Flagtown, Frankfort, Bloomingdale, and Woods Tavern in central Hillsborough
  • Hamilton in the eastern part; and South Branch in Hillsborough’s northern section
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The information provided on this site is for promotional purposes. Not all statements are verified before publishing. It is strongly suggested that always contact the school district and the local municipality directly to verify important information before deciding to move or buy in that location. LovableTowns does not discriminate against any state or federally protected class as it relates to Fair Housing Act and The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD).
Photos by: Casey Kittel, Google Street View, etc.