Best PlacesCentral Village, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Central Village, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Central Village ranks 26,867th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Central Village
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.
Central Village's strengths and weaknesses
Where Central Village ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
- Short commute21.0 minutes each way, better than 84% of towns
Where Central Village ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,310 a month, better than only 9% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Central Village
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Central Village home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $71,825; 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 Central Village's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Central Village
Central Village's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Central Village.
Who works in Central Village, and how
Work in Central Village centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Central Village
The coast is about 35 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Central Village, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Central Village, month by month
Central Village sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Central Village
The nearest airport, Rhode Island Tf Green International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Central Village
Schools across Central Village average a C−, better than 30% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Plainfield Memorial SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Moosup Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Shepard Hill Elementary SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Plainfield High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Central Village school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Central Village 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 Central Village against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Central Village
Is Central Village a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Central Village ranks 26,867th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, fast internet, and big-city access, and lowest on state finances and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Central Village expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,881. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $71,825 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Central Village safe?
Yes, Central Village is safer than 60% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $204 per resident a year.
Compare Central Village with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Central Village. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Central Village 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.
Central Village detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Central Village: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Central Village: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Central Village: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Central Village: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Central Village 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.