Best PlacesHigganum, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Higganum, 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.
Higganum ranks 2,013th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Higganum
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.
Higganum's strengths and weaknesses
Where Higganum ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of towns
Where Higganum ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Higganum
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Higganum home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,130, 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 Higganum's effective rate of 1.70%, 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 Higganum
Higganum runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Higganum.
Who works in Higganum, and how
Work in Higganum centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Higganum
Higganum has more restaurants and bars per resident than 69% of towns. The coast is about 22 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Higganum and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Higganum, month by month
Higganum sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 59° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Higganum
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around Higganum
Schools across Higganum average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Burr District Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Frederick Brewster SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Wesley SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Haddam-killingworth Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Frank Ward Strong SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Nathan Hale-ray Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Haddam-killingworth High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Coginchaug Regional High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Higganum school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Higganum 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 Higganum against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Higganum
Is Higganum a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Higganum ranks 2,013th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Higganum expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $395,473. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $121,130 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Higganum safe?
Yes, Higganum is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $131 per resident a year.
Compare Higganum with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Higganum. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Higganum 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.
Higganum detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Higganum: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Higganum: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Higganum: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Higganum: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Higganum 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.