Best PlacesNew London, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New London, 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.
New London ranks 1,714th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New London
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 London's strengths and weaknesses
Where New London ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 95% of cities
- Short commute19.2 minutes each way, better than 90% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of cities
Where New London ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in New London
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New London home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $64,822, 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 London's effective rate of 1.96%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New London
New London runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for New London.
Who works in New London, and how
Work in New London centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in New London
New London has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. The coast is about 4 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New London and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New London, month by month
New London sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 83° | 74° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 57° | 47° |
Flying in and out of New London
The nearest airport, Westerly State, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around New London
Schools across New London average an F, better than 1% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Great Neck Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Quaker Hill Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Winthrop Stem Elementary Magnet SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Clark Lane Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
- Interdistrict School For Arts And CommunicationD · 23% proficient
- Bennie Dover Jackson Middle SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Waterford High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Science And Technology Magnet Pathway For High School GradesD · 20% proficient
- New London Visual And Performing Arts Magnet SchoolD− · 13% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New London school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New London 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 London against the other 2,097 cities.
Who New London suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in New London
Is New London a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New London ranks 1,714th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, walkability, and short commutes, and lowest on the schools 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 London expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,959. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $64,822 median income, cost of living beats 15% of cities.
Is New London safe?
New London is safer than 15% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $349 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New London?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 86 pleasant days a year, more than 50% of cities.
Is New London good for families?
Schools beat 0% of cities, crime safety beats 15%, and childcare runs $1,310 a month.
Compare New London with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New London. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New London 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 London detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New London: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New London: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New London: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New London: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New London 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.