Best PlacesNaugatuck, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Naugatuck, 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.
Naugatuck ranks 1,047th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Naugatuck
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.
Naugatuck's strengths and weaknesses
Where Naugatuck ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 80% of cities
Where Naugatuck ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
- Short commute33.3 minutes each way, better than only 10% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Naugatuck
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Naugatuck home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,258, 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 Naugatuck's effective rate of 2.29%, 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 Naugatuck
Naugatuck'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 Naugatuck.
Who works in Naugatuck, and how
Work in Naugatuck centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Naugatuck
Naugatuck has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. The coast is about 27 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Naugatuck and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Naugatuck, month by month
Naugatuck sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 63° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Naugatuck
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around Naugatuck
Schools across Naugatuck average a C+, better than 35% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Middlebury Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Prospect Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Laurel Ledge SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Long River Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Memorial Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Cross Street Intermediate SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodland Regional High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Naugatuck High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- John F. Kennedy High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Naugatuck school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Naugatuck 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 Naugatuck against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Naugatuck suits
Families
Schools land around the 35th percentile and crime safety beats 61%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Naugatuck
Is Naugatuck a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Naugatuck ranks 1,047th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on tree cover, civic engagement, and heat safety, and lowest on property taxes and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Naugatuck expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $260,733. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $97,258 median income, cost of living beats 57% of cities.
Is Naugatuck safe?
Yes, Naugatuck is safer than 61% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $221 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Naugatuck?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 21. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of cities.
Is Naugatuck good for families?
Schools beat 35% of cities, crime safety beats 61%, and childcare runs $1,583 a month.
Compare Naugatuck with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Naugatuck. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Naugatuck 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.
Naugatuck detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Naugatuck: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Naugatuck: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Naugatuck: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Naugatuck: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Naugatuck 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.