Best PlacesColchester, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Colchester, 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.
Colchester ranks 2,846th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Colchester
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.
Colchester's strengths and weaknesses
Where Colchester ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of towns
Where Colchester ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,322 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Colchester
A household needs to earn about $106,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Colchester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $127,569, 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 Colchester's effective rate of 1.67%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Colchester
Colchester runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Colchester.
Who works in Colchester, and how
Work in Colchester centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Colchester
Colchester has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns and more parkland per resident than 86% of towns. The coast is about 29 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Colchester and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Colchester, month by month
Colchester sees roughly 73 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 Colchester
The nearest airport, Westerly State, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around Colchester
Schools across Colchester average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Salem Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Hebron Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Jack Jackter Intermediate SchoolA− · 61% proficient
Top middle schools
- William J. Johnston Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Nathan Hale-ray Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Rham Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Rham High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Bacon AcademyB+ · 53% proficient
- Nathan Hale-ray High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Colchester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Colchester 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 Colchester against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Colchester
Is Colchester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Colchester ranks 2,846th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, what local pay buys, and an educated workforce, 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 Colchester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $364,002. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $127,569 median income, cost of living beats 96% of towns.
Is Colchester safe?
Yes, Colchester is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $169 per resident a year.
Compare Colchester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Colchester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Colchester 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.
Colchester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Colchester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Colchester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Colchester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Colchester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Colchester 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.