Best PlacesDanbury, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Danbury, 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.
Danbury ranks 1,398th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Danbury
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.
Danbury's strengths and weaknesses
Where Danbury ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 94% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of cities
Where Danbury ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,858 a month, better than only 5% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Danbury
A household needs to earn about $112,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Danbury home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,645, 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 Danbury's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 Danbury
Danbury'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 Danbury.
Who works in Danbury, and how
Work in Danbury centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Danbury
Danbury has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 33 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Danbury and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Danbury, month by month
Danbury sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Danbury
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Danbury
Schools across Danbury average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Farmingville Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Ridgebury Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Redding Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- John Read Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Scotts Ridge Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- New Fairfield Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- North Salem Middle School/high SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Ridgefield High SchoolA · 76% proficient
- Joel Barlow High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Danbury school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Danbury 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 Danbury against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Danbury suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Danbury
Is Danbury a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Danbury ranks 1,398th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Danbury expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $399,534. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $93,645 median income, cost of living beats 39% of cities.
Is Danbury safe?
Danbury is safer than 41% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Danbury?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 21. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of cities.
Is Danbury good for families?
Schools beat 26% of cities, crime safety beats 41%, and childcare runs $1,858 a month.
Compare Danbury with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Danbury. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Danbury 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.
Danbury detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Danbury: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Danbury: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Danbury: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Danbury: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Danbury 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.