What is the name of House M.D.’s fictional town in New Jersey?

The story behind the answer

House M.D.’s fictional town in New Jersey is Princeton-Plainsboro.

The town is home to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where Gregory House and his colleagues work. The combined name also appears in the hospital’s title, linking the fictional municipality with the medical institution at the center of the series.

Princeton-Plainsboro was created for the show rather than presented as a real New Jersey municipality. The production nevertheless used recognizable Princeton-area imagery, including locations connected with Princeton University, to make the setting feel authentic. This led some viewers to assume that the hospital or town exists exactly as shown.

The setting’s name is easy to confuse with real places in New Jersey, especially Princeton, which is a real municipality and university town. The fictional compound “Princeton-Plainsboro” is the precise answer. It is also distinct from the real Princeton-Plainsboro Center census-designated place, whose existence does not make the television hospital real.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026

Add question to a list

Choose a list to keep this question in: