ZIP code 08853

ZIP 08853 is a mid-size town in Somerset County, New Jersey, with 5,415 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #411 of 598 ranked by population — larger than 31% of them. The median age here is 48.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 08853 earn a median of $213,074 a year, 171.3% above the national figure of $78,538. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 0.2% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 08853 is valued at $638,700, 110.5% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $2,124 a month, 51.1% above the national figure, or roughly $25,488 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 12% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 75.2% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 08853 is tabulated inside Somerset County, New Jersey, one of 27 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 598 across New Jersey. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 08853 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 08853 reports a median household income of $213,074, 39% above the $153,785 county median, and 95% above the $109,182 typical NJ ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $638,700, 14% above the county figure and 51% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $2,124 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

New Jersey charges 6.625% statewide, and no local sales tax is layered on top, so the state rate is the full amount collected in 08853.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 08853 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.