Warren Township, New Jersey, United States

🇺🇸 Warren Township is a township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The township is a bedroom suburb of New York City in the much larger New York metropolitan area, located within the Raritan Valley region. Warren is situated in north-eastern Somerset County bordering both Morris and Union counties. The township has been one of the state's highest-income communities. Based on data from the American Community Survey for 2013–2017, Warren Township residents had a median household income of $154,647, ranked 12th in the state among municipalities with more than 10,000 residents, more than double the statewide median of $76,475.

History Warren was originally inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans and was colonized in the 1720s by European farmers. As early as 1900, it became a destination for wealthy residents looking to escape nearby New York City. Warren was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 5, 1806, from portions of Bernards Township and Bridgewater Township. The south-eastern half of the original township (which was close to a railroad and contained most of the population) was separated off as North Plainfield Township (since renamed to Green Brook Township) on April 2, 1872.

Warren was named for Revolutionary War patriot, General Joseph Warren, who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Warren celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2006.

On January 15, 2021, Kings Food Market announced they would close their Warren location on Mountain Boulevard. The store closed on January 23, 2021.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 19.64 square miles (50.86 km²), including 19.57 square miles (50.68 km²) of land and 0.07 square miles (0.18 km²) of water (0.36%).

Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Coontown, Dock Watch Hollow, Gallia, Mount Bethel, Round Top, Smalleytown, Springdale, Union Village, and Warrenville.

The township borders Bernards Township to the north and west, Bridgewater Township to the south-west, Green Brook Township to the south-east, and Watchung to the east; all of which lie within Somerset County. Northeastern borders are the communities of Long Hill in Morris County and Berkeley Heights in Union County.

The east–west Second Watchung Mountain ridge bisects Warren, with the northern half of the township sloping northward to the Passaic River and Dead River, and the southern half spanning the Washington Valley, between the First and Second Watchung Mountain ridges, through which runs the East Branch of the Middle Brook.

Demographics The 2010 United States census counted 15,311 people, 5,059 households, and 4,285 families in the township. The population density was 782.5 per square mile (302.1/km²). There were 5,258 housing units at an average density of 268.7 per square mile (103.7/km²). The racial makeup was 80.94% (12,392) White, 1.52% (233) Black or African American, 0.05% (7) Native American, 15.07% (2,307) Asian, 0.10% (15) Pacific Islander, 0.64% (98) from other races, and 1.69% (259) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.36% (820) of the population.

Of the 5,059 households, 42.7% had children under the age of 18; 75.8% were married couples living together; 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present and 15.3% were non-families. Of all households, 12.7% were made up of individuals and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.30.

27.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 18.5% from 25 to 44, 34.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females, the population had 95.5 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 94.1 males.

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $135,143 (with a margin of error of +/− $23,156) and the median family income was $162,083 (+/− $17,221). Males had a median income of $115,875 (+/− $15,861) versus $68,450 (+/− $13,300) for females. The per capita income for the township was $71,469 (+/− $6,664). About 0.8% of families and 0.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Economy The insurance company Chubb is based in Warren.

Arts and culture Until 2017, the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Eastern America was headquartered in Warren Township.

Parks and recreation Wagner Farm Arboretum, which consists of 92.6 acres (37.5 ha) was the former Wagner Dairy Farm acquired by the township in 2001.

Education The Warren Township Schools serve public school students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of five schools, had an enrollment of 1,525 students and 188.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.1:1. Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics.) are Central School with 293 students in grades K-5, Mt. Horeb School with 202 students in grades PreK-5, Angelo L. Tomaso School with 248 students in grades K-5, Woodland School with 229 students in grades K-5 and Warren Middle School with 544 students in grades 6-8.

Students in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend Watchung Hills Regional High School, which serves students from Warren as well as the neighboring communities of Watchung, Green Brook (in Somerset County) and Long Hill Township (in Morris County). As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,909 students and 157.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1. The district's board of education has nine members, who are elected directly by the voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for each year. Of the nine elected seats, four are allocated to Warren Township.

Transport As of May 2010, the township had a total of 126.65 miles (203.82 km) of roadways, of which 101.34 miles (163.09 km) were maintained by the municipality, 18.64 miles (30.00 km) by Somerset County and 6.67 miles (10.73 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Interstate 78 is the most prominent highway serving Warren Township, running east-west for 6.7 miles (10.8 km) across the northern portion of the township. Other significant roads which pass through the township include County Route 525, County Route 527 and County Route 531.