Best PlacesNorthwest Hills Planning Region, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Northwest Hills Planning Region, 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.
Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks 248th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $103,867, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, state finances, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Northwest Hills Planning Region
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.
Northwest Hills Planning Region's strengths and weaknesses
Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Civic engagement is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Fast internet and tree cover follow.
The one real hole is childcare costs, near the bottom of the country. State finances and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 96% of counties
Where Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,412 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 4% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Northwest Hills Planning Region
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northwest Hills Planning Region home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $103,867; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Northwest Hills Planning Region's effective rate of 1.62%, 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 Northwest Hills Planning Region
Northwest Hills Planning Region runs older 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 Northwest Hills Planning Region.
Who works in Northwest Hills Planning Region, and how
Work in Northwest Hills Planning Region centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Northwest Hills Planning Region
The coast is about 57 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Northwest Hills Planning Region, which the map shows.
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region growing, and who is moving in?
Northwest Hills Planning Region has grown about 2% over the last decade.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Northwest Hills Planning Region go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Northwest Hills Planning Region, month by month
Northwest Hills Planning Region 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 Northwest Hills Planning Region
Bradley International sits about 25 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 Northwest Hills Planning Region
Schools across Northwest Hills Planning Region average a B, better than 76% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Goshen Center SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- The Burnham SchoolA · 72% proficient
- Kent Center SchoolA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Avon Middle SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Litchfield Intermediate SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Canton Intermediate SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Dover High SchoolA+ · 94% proficient
- Avon High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Granby Memorial High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northwest Hills Planning Region school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northwest Hills Planning Region 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 Northwest Hills Planning Region against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Northwest Hills Planning Region suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Northwest Hills Planning Region
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks 248th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and tree cover, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $377,745. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $103,867 median income, cost of living beats 96% of counties.
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region safe?
Yes, Northwest Hills Planning Region is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $198 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Northwest Hills Planning Region?
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 28% of counties.
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region good for families?
Schools beat 76% of counties, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $1,412 a month.
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 96% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 98% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Northwest Hills Planning Region with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northwest Hills Planning Region. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northwest Hills Planning Region 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.
Northwest Hills Planning Region detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northwest Hills Planning Region: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northwest Hills Planning Region: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northwest Hills Planning Region: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northwest Hills Planning Region: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northwest Hills Planning Region 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.