Best PlacesNew Canaan, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Canaan, 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.
New Canaan ranks 707th 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 New Canaan
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.
New Canaan's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Canaan ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$224,288 median, better than 99% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
Where New Canaan ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,858 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute38.0 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in New Canaan
A household needs to earn about $418,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Canaan home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $224,288, 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 New Canaan's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 New Canaan
New Canaan's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New Canaan.
Who works in New Canaan, and how
Work in New Canaan centers on finance & insurance and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 49%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in New Canaan
New Canaan has more restaurants and bars per resident than 74% of towns and more parkland per resident than 90% of towns. The coast is about 13 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Canaan and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Canaan, month by month
New Canaan sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 32° | 24° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of New Canaan
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 32 miles away.
The best schools in and around New Canaan
Schools across New Canaan average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- South SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- West SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- East SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top middle schools
- Saxe Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Middlebrook SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- West Rocks Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- New Canaan High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Wilton High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Norwalk High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Canaan school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Canaan 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 New Canaan against the other 50,332 towns.
Who New Canaan suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 34% already work from home.
Common questions about living in New Canaan
Is New Canaan a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Canaan ranks 707th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, an educated workforce, and population health, 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 New Canaan expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,546,190. The overall cost of living runs about 48% above the national average. Set against a $224,288 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is New Canaan safe?
New Canaan is safer than 33% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Canaan?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of towns.
Is New Canaan good for families?
Schools beat 99% of towns, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $1,858 a month.
Compare New Canaan with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Canaan. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Canaan 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.
New Canaan detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Canaan: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Canaan: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Canaan: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Canaan: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Canaan 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.