Franklin Center sits inside Franklin Township as a small, dense census-designated place — just 6.71 square miles at 82 feet of elevation — that added more than half its population between 2010 and 2020, a 52.5% jump that's unusual for an established Somerset County community. The people who came, and the ones who were already here, skew older: median age 53.8, more than a third of residents 65 or up. That combination — rapid growth layered onto an aging population — is exactly the mix that keeps a stairlift installer busy in a town this size.
Why a stairlift installed in Franklin Center, NJ is planned around the way this specific community lives, not stamped out from a one-size-fits-all template.
Franklin Center is a predominantly urban census-designated place of about 6.71 square miles within Franklin Township, Somerset County, at an elevation of 82 feet, with 99.6% of residents living in urban areas.
Source ↗Franklin Center's population grew about 52.5% between 2010 and 2020, and it skews older with a median age of 53.8 years and 35.2% of residents aged 65 or older.
Source ↗Adjust the options below and watch the price update in real time. This is the same pricing our team uses when they come out for a free home assessment. No hidden fees, no upsells.
Compare your options honestly. A stairlift is the only choice that keeps you in the home you love, at a fraction of every alternative.
| Your option | Upfront cost | 10-year total |
|---|---|---|
| Stairlift Installation Best value Professional install by All American Stairlifts, Franklin Center NJ | $3,150 – $16,800 One-time | $3,150 – $16,800 Lifetime use |
| Moving to a single-story home Selling, buying, closing, moving costs in the Somerset market | $50,000+ Plus relocation stress | $50,000+ Loss of community ties |
| Assisted living facility Somerset County average, private room | $4,500/mo Recurring | $540,000 And rising annually |
| In-home caregiver (8 hrs/day) Licensed home health aide, Florida market rates | $6,000/mo Recurring | $730,000+ Before wage increases |
| Home elevator installation Requires shaft construction, permits, months of work | $25,000 to $50,000 Plus renovation | $28,000 to $55,000 Includes maintenance |
Sources: AARP Cost of Care Survey 2025, Genworth Cost of Care Study, and New Jersey Department of Elder Affairs. Figures reflect Franklin Center metro averages.
Most Franklin Center homeowners qualify for at least one of these programs. We help you apply at no cost.
Up to $6,800 for service-connected veterans and their surviving spouses. One-time, tax-free, no repayment.
Eligibility: Veterans & surviving spousesHome & Community-Based Services Waiver may cover up to 100% of installation for income-qualified residents.
Eligibility: Medicaid + medical needWith a doctor's letter of medical necessity, the full cost is deductible on Schedule A as a qualified medical expense.
Eligibility: Taxpayers who itemize0% and low-APR plans through our lending partners. Soft credit pull, instant approval, no prepayment penalty.
Eligibility: All homeownersNot sure which applies? Our local specialist will walk you through every program you might qualify for during your free home assessment. Get started here →
Common situations we get called out for across Franklin Center's neighborhoods. Drag to scroll, or use the arrows and dots below.
I put off a stairlift for two years because I thought it would turn my living room into a hospital ward. Luis showed me the straight rail in beige and it matched my oak treads almost exactly. Three-hour install, and you barely notice it's there when the seat is folded up.
Our Griggstown place has five steps up to the front porch and my husband couldn't manage them after his hip surgery. Luis put an outdoor lift on the left side of the stoop — weather-sealed, runs quiet even when it's fifteen degrees out. It got us through the whole winter.
Our East Millstone Victorian has a staircase that turns ninety degrees at a half-landing — beautiful, but impossible for my mother. Three other companies said they couldn't do it. Luis came out, laser-measured for an hour, and six weeks later the curved rail went in perfectly.
I live in a 1970s ranch in Franklin Park. The stairs to the basement are steep and narrow — fourteen treads, carpeted. Luis put in a straight lift in about three hours and even matched the seat color to the beige carpet. My wife uses it every single day.
My brother uses a wheelchair and we needed a platform lift for the staircase in our Middlebush colonial. Luis installed the inclined platform — flat black deck, yellow safety edges — in about five hours. Calling it life-changing is not an exaggeration for our family.
The Little Rocky Hill section has a lot of mid-century homes, and ours is a typical split-level — living room up a half-flight, bedrooms up another. Luis did a straight rail on the upper staircase. The battery backup kicked in during a storm in January and we never lost the lift.
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(800) 965-0350 Call Now. It's FreeFranklin Center is part of Franklin Township, made up of eight historic villages: Somerset, East Millstone, Franklin Park, Griggstown, Middlebush, Zarephath, plus parts of Kingston and Little Rocky Hill. The Somerset section is dense with 1960s split-levels and colonials with tight stairwells and hardwood treads. East Millstone and Griggstown hold National Register districts where 19th-century homes need custom-curved rails. Franklin Park mixes ranches and newer builds with wider staircases. Along Canal Road and the Millstone River, farmhouses and riverfront homes often call for an outdoor porch lift.
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These are the three guides our Franklin Center customers read most often before booking. Written by our installers, not marketers.
VA HISA, Medicaid waivers, IRS medical deduction, state grants, and 0% financing, with the actual forms you need.
What Original Medicare and Advantage plans actually pay toward a stairlift, and the legitimate workarounds when they don't.
Straight vs curved, standard vs heavy-duty, indoor vs outdoor. A read that saves you from buying the wrong model.
Compare Our Franklin Center Stairlifts
Select a stairlift on the leftabove to see full specs, pricing, and how it compares to the alternatives.
Stairlift Types
Most common · From $2,800
Fits the 36- to 42-inch stairwells in Franklin Township's 1960s split-levels and Somerset-section colonials. Bolts to the treads, not the wall — no drywall repair. Installs in about three hours.
vs Curved: 3x less expensive and installed in one visit. vs Home elevator: 10-15x less cost and no construction. vs Moving bedroom downstairs: Keeps your home exactly as it is.
Custom-built · From $9,000
Built for East Millstone Victorians, Griggstown historic homes, and any staircase with a landing turn. Laser-measured on site, rail bent to match your exact stair geometry.
vs Straight with landing break: One smooth ride instead of transferring seats. vs Home elevator: Half the cost, no construction permits, no shaft needed. vs Moving: A fraction of what selling and relocating costs.
Weatherproof · From $4,000
IP55-rated for New Jersey winters — handles freeze-thaw cycles, snow, and rain. Common on porch steps along Canal Road and elevated entries in the Griggstown area.
vs Standard stairlift outdoors: Won't rust, seize, or void its warranty. vs Exterior ramp: No permits, no concrete work, no lost yard. vs Home entry renovation: Installed in a single day.
600 lb Rated · From $5,050
For residents who need a wider seat and a higher weight rating. Fits the same rail footprint as the standard straight model — no extra floor space in Franklin Township's compact split-level hallways.
vs Standard stairlift: Extra capacity and wider seat for maximum comfort. vs Custom furniture lift: A fraction of the price with faster install. vs Home elevator: Much lower cost with the same weight confidence.
When you call All American Stairlifts, you'll speak directly with a licensed installer who lives and works in Somerset, NJ.
Franklin Center Stairlift Specialist · 15+ years of experience
(800) 965-0350 [email protected]Proven local experience. Licensed. Insured. No surprises.
Every home is different. Here are six recent installs from Somerset County. Tap any project to see the full gallery, tech specs, and the story behind it.
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This determines the rail type and installation complexity.
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Straight Stairlift, Standard Use
Estimated: $3,150 – $6,150
A member of our Franklin Center team is reviewing your answers right now and will call you within 24 hours. Your quote is free and there is no obligation to buy.
Straight answers about cost, installation, and funding, no sales fluff. Browse by topic or call us if you have a question that isn't here.
Cost comes down to the staircase, not the town. A straight run is the less expensive of the two rail types; a curved or turned staircase costs more because the rail has to be custom-bent to that specific stairway. With Franklin Center's homeownership rate at 69.4%, most of the people we quote own the home outright and are weighing a stairlift against staying in a house they've lived in for years rather than moving — that's the real comparison for a lot of families here, not just the sticker price.
Franklin Center falls into what we track as a premium affordability band, which in practice means fewer households here qualify for the lowest-income assistance tiers than in some neighboring towns. That pushes more people toward Somerset County's Homeowner Housing Rehabilitation Program (CDBG/HOME) or a manufacturer financing plan rather than a straight grant — worth calling the county's Community Development Office at 908-541-5756 to ask whether your household still falls under their income limits for the current funding cycle.
For a straight staircase, yes — it can trim real money off the price and hold up fine. It's a harder match for a curved rail, since a reconditioned curved unit rarely fits a different stairway's bend exactly. With 9.9% of Franklin Center residents 80 or older, we'd rather quote a rail built to the exact turn than force a secondhand fit in a household where the person using it can least afford a mechanical surprise.
Most straight-rail jobs are a half-day. Franklin Center's a small CDP — 6.71 square miles — so travel between stops here isn't the holdup; it's whatever the stairway itself throws at us. A turn partway up adds time because that section of rail has to be custom-built before we ever get on site.
No — the rail bolts into the treads, not the wall or the drywall, and it comes back off later without leaving structural damage. That matters here because with a median age of 53.8 and more than a third of residents 65-plus, a lot of the calls we get are about aging in place in a home the family already owns, not a temporary fix on a house they're about to sell.
We measure it and order a custom-built rail — there's no off-the-shelf curved section. Given how much of Franklin Center's population falls into a high mobility-need bracket, we try to get the measuring visit scheduled fast so the wait on the custom rail doesn't stretch the timeline any longer than it has to.
Not based on what the county publishes. The Handyman Program's listed scope covers grab bars, smoke-detector batteries, minor plumbing and electrical, and exterior ADA ramps — labor is free, with the client or donations covering materials — but stairlift installation isn't itemized anywhere in that list. Call Volunteer Services at (908) 541-5715 or the Office on Aging & Disability Services at (908) 704-6346 and ask directly before you count on it covering your project.
JACC (Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving) is a state-funded program, not Medicaid, and it caps out at $929.88 a month or $11,158.56 a year total — that ceiling covers all JACC services combined, so a stairlift would share the budget with anything else JACC is funding. NJ Medicaid MLTSS works differently: it can fund a stairlift through its HCBS waiver with no fixed dollar cap, based entirely on what the approved Plan of Care allows.
Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity runs a Home Safety & Repair program with sliding-scale cost share — 10% to 100% of the project depending on income tier — plus zero-interest payment plans; call (908) 704-0016 to ask whether a stairlift falls under their published "accessibility upgrades" category for your household. Veterans should also look at VA Prosthetics, which carries no set dollar cap for a medically prescribed stairlift, along with HISA grants up to $6,800 for service-connected veterans toward the surrounding structural work.
Franklin Center Stairlift Specialist · 15+ yrs
I get calls from Franklin Center more than you'd expect for a place under six thousand people, and the median age here — 53.8 — tells you why. A lot of folks bought in during that growth spurt over the 2010s and are now planning to stay put through their 70s and 80s rather than downsize. When I mention the county's Handyman Program, I'm upfront that stairlifts aren't on their published list — it's ramps and grab bars, not stair rail — so I don't let anyone walk in expecting a county crew to cover the job.
Franklin Center sits inside Franklin Township's network of eight villages, and the housing stock tells the story. Most homes went up between 1955 and 1975 — split-levels, ranches, and colonials with staircases running 12 to 16 treads and stairwells almost always 36 to 42 inches wide, which fits a standard straight rail without trouble.
Where it gets interesting is the historic districts. In East Millstone and Griggstown, on the National Register, older 1800s homes have narrow, winding staircases that need a custom-curved rail measured on site. Call Luis at the number above or fill out the form for a free in-home assessment — no travel fees anywhere in Franklin Township.
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A certified Franklin Center technician visits your home, measures your stairs, and answers every question. 100% free. No obligation.
Most stairlifts are installed in a single day by our licensed Franklin Center team. Clean, quiet, ready to ride the same afternoon.
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