I used to work in Raritan at one of the big biopharma companies on US-202. I lived in Bound Brook for the first year I worked there which was about a 20 min drive, but just like you eventually needed to move closer to NYC since my gf eventually needed to go back to her office there. Bound Brook/Middlesex area is nice but definitely very suburban and more often than not you're just gonna end up driving somewhere else to do things, and NJ transit is a bit more inconvenient there.

Ended up moving to Rahway after that which may be great for you. Had one of those new modern buildings, a nice downtown area, and NJ transit is about 40 minutes to Penn Station. Drive to Raritan was anywhere between 30 and 40 minutes depending on 287 traffic, and I was going in 5 days a week (Late 2021-2022). I moved to Jersey City a few months ago from Rahway and Rahway has great value for your money in terms of rent.

We also looked into South Orange along with Rahway which was about a 30 min drive to Raritan and a 35 min train into NYC, but it was a bit pricier at that time. Also a great place to consider.