Best Places06471, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 06471, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
06471 ranks 5,321st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 06471
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
06471's strengths and weaknesses
Where 06471 ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 06471 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 4% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 06471
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 06471 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $109,412; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 06471's effective rate of 1.74%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 06471
06471 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 06471.
Who works in 06471, and how
Work in 06471 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 06471
06471 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 84% of zip codes. The coast is about 10 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 06471 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 06471, month by month
06471 sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 59° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 06471
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around 06471
Schools across 06471 average a B, better than 64% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Totoket Valley Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Mary T. Murphy SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Mary R. Tisko SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Francis Walsh Intermediate SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- North Branford Intermediate SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Branford High SchoolB · 48% proficient
- North Branford High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 06471 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
06471 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 06471 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 06471
Is 06471 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 06471 ranks 5,321st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and health care access, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 06471 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $380,622. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $109,412 median income, cost of living beats 83% of zip codes.
Is 06471 safe?
Yes, 06471 is safer than 81% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare 06471 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 06471. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 06471 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
06471 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 06471: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 06471: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 06471: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 06471: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
06471 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.