Hamilton Township is a township and the most populous municipality in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the largest suburb of Trenton, the state's capital, which is located to the township's west. The township is situated within the New York metropolitan area as defined by the United States Census Bureau but directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is part of the Federal Communications Commission's Philadelphia Designated Market Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 92,297, The township was the state's ninth-largest municipality in 2010 and 2020, after having been ranked 10th in 2000.
Hamilton was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 11, 1842, from portions of the now-defunct Nottingham Township. Portions of the township were taken to form Chambersburg on April 1, 1872, and annexed by Trenton in 1888, and by Wilbur on April 24, 1891, and annexed by Trenton in 1898. Hamilton Township derives its name from the village of Hamilton Square, which might have been named for Alexander Hamilton.
In 2006, Hamilton Township was ranked by Morgan Quitno Press as the 18th-safest city in the United States, out of 369 cities nationwide. In the company's 2005 survey, the Township was ranked 15th safest of 354 cities surveyed nationwide.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 40.31 square miles (104.41 km<sup>2</sup>), including 39.44 square miles (102.14 km<sup>2</sup>) of land and 0.87 square miles (2.26 km<sup>2</sup>) of water (2.17%).
Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Briar Manor, Broad Street Park, Bromley, Chewalla Park, Creston, DeCou Village, Deutzville, Duck Island, East Trenton Heights, Edgebrook, Extonville, Golden Crest, Gropps Lake, Haines Corner, Hutchinson Mills, Lakeside Park, Maple Shade, North Crosswicks, Nottingham, Oil City, Pond Run, Quaker Bridge, Quaker Gardens, Rosemont, The Orchards, Trenton Gardens, Warner Village, White City and Yardville Heights.
Van Nest Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife management area operated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The township borders the municipalities of Lawrence Township, Robbinsville Township, Trenton and West Windsor in Mercer County; Bordentown City, Bordentown Township, Chesterfield Township and North Hanover Township in Burlington County; Upper Freehold Township in Monmouth County; and Falls Township in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.