High School SAT Scores Across Somerset County [Interactive Map]

In Somerset County, income and SAT scores seem to go hand in hand.

Of the 11 public high schools in Somerset County, the three with median household incomes of less than $65,000 are seeing average SAT scores among students in the 1300s, according to data from the state's recently released New Jersey School Performance Report. They are Manville, North Plainfield and Bound Brook.

On the flip side, six of the public high schools in the county with students coming from homes with a household income above $100,000 had average scores in the 1600s and 1700s.

According to the New Jersey School Performance Report, the benchmark for SAT scores is set at 1550, with the expectation that those who achieve it will earn at least a B- in their first year of college.

The only anomalies from the estimates were Somerville, with its median income around $87,000, seeing students scoring, on average, 1609 on their SATs, and Franklin, with a median income of about $92,000, seeing students scoring around 1414.

The former met its target goals, the latter did not.

Somerville High School is actually the only school with median household incomes below $100,000 that met the goal, with 55 percent of students achieving scores above the target goal of 1550.

The highest scores in the county were recorded from Montgomery High School, with an average of 1789, in a town that holds the highest median income as well, $176,995.

Hillsborough, Watchung Hills, Bridgewater, Ridge and Somerset Hills also saw their high schools meet the standard goals for SAT scores, with at least 60 percent of students achieving scores above 1550.

For a better visualization of SAT scores by public high school, see the embedded interactive map. Use the (+) and (-) buttons to zoom in and out. Clicking on each data point reveals the name of the high school, its average SAT score and the adjusted median household income of the communities that comprise its student body.