Princeton Junction is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within West Windsor township, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the CDP's population was 2,475.
The construction of the neighborhood of Berrien City (focused around Scott Avenue, Alexander Road, and Berrien Avenue) starting in the 1910s represented West Windsor's first planned development. Following the reconstruction of the Washington Road railroad bridge in 1939, the business center of the community shifted to the intersection of Washington Road and Cranbury Road, where a lumber yard, service station, liquor store, strip mall, several gas stations, and several more businesses operated for decades. 1960 1970<br> 1980 1990 2000<br> 2010 2020
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|2,017
|1,761
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,451
|84.68%
|71.44%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |58.63%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|48
|58
|style='background: #ffffe6; |47
|2.02%
|2.35%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.90%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|3
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.13%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|211
|454
|style='background: #ffffe6; |693
|8.86%
|18.42%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |28.00%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|3
|8
|style='background: #ffffe6; |19
|0.13%
|0.32%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.77%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|27
|50
|style='background: #ffffe6; |111
|1.13%
|2.03%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4.48%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|73
|134
|style='background: #ffffe6; |154
|3.06%
|5.44%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.22%
|-
|Total
|2,382
|2,465
|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,475
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Princeton Junction had a population of 2,475. The median age was 41.8 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.4% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 99.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.
90.3% of residents lived in urban areas and 9.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 913 households in Princeton Junction, of which 38.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 64.4% were married-couple households, 12.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 19.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
Of the 921 households, 35.0% had children under the age of 18; 68.6% were married couples living together; 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present and 24.4% were non-families. Of all households, 20.8% were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.08.
There were 842 households, out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.0% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.1% were non-families. 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.14.
In 2009, Princeton Junction saw the closure of an Acme Supermarket, which had been an anchor tenant in the Windsor Plaza Shopping Center for nearly 40 years; the store closed in the face of the opening of larger and more modern supermarkets nearby.
Some residents blame the "deterioration" of the central Princeton Junction area on a lack of political consensus.
Education
All of West Windsor, including Princeton Junction, is served by the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District<!--UNI 17700-->.
Notable people
People who were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Princeton Junction include:
- Kevin Barry (born 1978), baseball player
- Douglas Forrester (born 1953), former gubernatorial candidate
- Ethan Hawke (born 1970), actor
- Matt Lalli (born 1986), professional lacrosse player for the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse
- Ben H. Love (1930–2010), eighth Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, serving from 1985 to 1993
- James Murphy (born 1970), singer, songwriter, DJ, electronic musician (as LCD Soundsystem)
- John Forbes Nash Jr. (1928–2015), mathematician
- Bryan Singer (born 1965), film director, writer and producer
;Note
- Christopher McQuarrie (born 1968), screenwriter, was born either in Princeton Junction, where he was raised, or in nearby Princeton. Different sources — and in the case of All Movie Guide, the same source — give both places. Note that Princeton Junction has no hospital.