Best PlacesNorfolk, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norfolk, 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.
Norfolk ranks 7,310th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Norfolk
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.
Norfolk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norfolk ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where Norfolk ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,407 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Norfolk
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norfolk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $98,873, 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 Norfolk's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 Norfolk
Norfolk runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Norfolk.
Who works in Norfolk, and how
Work in Norfolk centers on construction and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Norfolk
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Norfolk.
What the weather is like in Norfolk, month by month
Norfolk sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Norfolk
Bradley International sits about 27 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 3.3 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Norfolk
Schools across Norfolk average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Goshen Center SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Botelle Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Cornwall Consolidated SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Litchfield Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Northwestern Regional Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Torrington Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwestern Regional High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Litchfield High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Wamogo Regional High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norfolk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norfolk 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 Norfolk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Norfolk
Is Norfolk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norfolk ranks 7,310th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norfolk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $426,148. The overall cost of living runs about 5% above the national average. Set against a $98,873 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Norfolk safe?
Yes, Norfolk is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Norfolk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norfolk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norfolk 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.
Norfolk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norfolk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norfolk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norfolk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norfolk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norfolk 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.