Best PlacesNorth Lyme, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Lyme, 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.
North Lyme ranks 622nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and state finances rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in North Lyme
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.
North Lyme's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Lyme ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$159,093 median, better than 98% of towns
Where North Lyme ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,341 a month, better than only 8% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Lyme
A household needs to earn about $158,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Lyme home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $159,093, 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 North Lyme's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 North Lyme
North Lyme runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Lyme.
Who works in North Lyme, and how
Work in North Lyme centers on education and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 64%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in North Lyme
The coast is about 21 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across North Lyme, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Lyme, month by month
North Lyme sees roughly 81 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 North Lyme
The nearest airport, Westerly State, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 41 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Lyme
Schools across North Lyme average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lyme Consolidated SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Salem Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- East Haddam Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lyme-old Lyme Middle SchoolA · 65% proficient
- East Lyme Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Nathan Hale-ray Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Lyme-old Lyme High SchoolA · 72% proficient
- East Lyme High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Valley Regional High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Lyme school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Lyme 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 North Lyme against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Lyme
Is North Lyme a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Lyme ranks 622nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on state finances and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Lyme expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $568,921. The overall cost of living runs about 9% above the national average. Set against a $159,093 median income, cost of living beats 98% of towns.
Is North Lyme safe?
Yes, North Lyme is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $126 per resident a year.
Compare North Lyme with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Lyme. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Lyme 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.
North Lyme detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Lyme: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Lyme: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Lyme: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Lyme: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Lyme 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.