Best PlacesNorwalk, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norwalk, 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.
Norwalk ranks 807th of 2,098 U.S. cities 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 Norwalk
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.
Norwalk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norwalk ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of cities
Where Norwalk ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,858 a month, better than only 5% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 7% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 11% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Norwalk
A household needs to earn about $159,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norwalk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $121,073, 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 Norwalk's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 Norwalk
Norwalk's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Norwalk.
Who works in Norwalk, and how
Work in Norwalk centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Norwalk
Norwalk has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 85% of cities. The coast is about 6 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Norwalk and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Norwalk, month by month
Norwalk sees roughly 66 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 Norwalk
The nearest airport, Westchester County, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Laguardia, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around Norwalk
Schools across Norwalk average a C+, better than 37% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- South SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Rowayton SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Concord Magnet SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Saxe Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Middlebrook SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Roton Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- New Canaan High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Wilton High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Center For Global StudiesA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norwalk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norwalk 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 Norwalk against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Norwalk suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Norwalk
Is Norwalk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norwalk ranks 807th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and big-city access, 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 Norwalk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $566,455. The overall cost of living runs about 20% above the national average. Set against a $121,073 median income, cost of living beats 62% of cities.
Is Norwalk safe?
Norwalk is safer than 34% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Norwalk?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 24. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 19% of cities.
Is Norwalk good for families?
Schools beat 37% of cities, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $1,858 a month.
Compare Norwalk with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norwalk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norwalk 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.
Norwalk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norwalk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norwalk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norwalk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norwalk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norwalk 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.