Best PlacesConnecticut Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Connecticut, 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.
Connecticut ranks 12th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $111,324, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, property taxes, and an overheated housing market.
The best neighborhoods in Connecticut
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.
Connecticut's strengths and weaknesses
Connecticut ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Fast internet is the standout, in the top 1% of states. Civic engagement and what local pay buys follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and an overheated housing market also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Connecticut ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of states
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of states
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of states
- Household income$111,324 median, better than 93% of states
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of states
Where Connecticut ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,577 a month, better than only 3% of states
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of states
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 7% of states
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Connecticut
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Connecticut home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $111,324, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Connecticut's effective rate of 1.76%, 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 Connecticut
Connecticut'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 Connecticut.
Who works in Connecticut, and how
Work in Connecticut centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Connecticut
Connecticut has less late-night activity than most states. Connecticut has 96 miles of ocean coastline. That concentrates in some parts of Connecticut and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Connecticut, month by month
Connecticut sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 45° |
The best schools in and around Connecticut
Schools across Connecticut average a B−, better than 73% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Sherman SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- South SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Riverside SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- Saxe Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Middlesex Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- House Of Arts Letters And Science (hals) AcademyA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Rye High SchoolA+ · 100% proficient
- Pawling High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Dover High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Connecticut school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Connecticut 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 Connecticut against the other 49 states.
Who Connecticut suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of states, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Connecticut
Is Connecticut a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Connecticut ranks 12th of 50 states. It scores highest on fast internet, civic engagement, and what local pay buys, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Connecticut expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $428,158. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $111,324 median income, cost of living beats 95% of states.
Is Connecticut safe?
Yes, Connecticut is safer than 63% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Connecticut?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 23. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of states.
Is Connecticut good for families?
Schools beat 73% of states, crime safety beats 63%, and childcare runs $1,577 a month.
Is Connecticut good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 99% of states. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Connecticut with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Connecticut. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Connecticut 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.
Connecticut detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Connecticut: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Connecticut: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Connecticut: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Connecticut: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Connecticut 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.
- 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.