Best PlacesCheshire, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cheshire, 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.
Cheshire ranks 194th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cheshire
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.
Cheshire's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cheshire ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of cities
Where Cheshire ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 10% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 16% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Cheshire
A household needs to earn about $129,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cheshire home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $143,987, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Cheshire'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 and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cheshire
Cheshire runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cheshire.
Who works in Cheshire, and how
Work in Cheshire centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cheshire
Cheshire has more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. The coast is about 25 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Cheshire and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Cheshire, month by month
Cheshire sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Cheshire
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cheshire
Schools across Cheshire average an A, better than 89% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Highland SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Norton SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Chapman SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dodd Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Long River Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- James H. Moran Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Cheshire High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Woodland Regional High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Mark T. Sheehan High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cheshire school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cheshire 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 Cheshire against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Cheshire suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 90% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Cheshire
Is Cheshire a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cheshire ranks 194th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, civic engagement, and health care access, and lowest on state finances and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cheshire expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $435,904. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $143,987 median income, cost of living beats 90% of cities.
Is Cheshire safe?
Yes, Cheshire is safer than 83% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $170 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cheshire?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 21. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of cities.
Is Cheshire good for families?
Schools beat 89% of cities, crime safety beats 83%, and childcare runs $1,583 a month.
Compare Cheshire with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cheshire. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cheshire 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.
Cheshire detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cheshire: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cheshire: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cheshire: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cheshire: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cheshire 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.