Best PlacesSouthwood Acres, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Southwood Acres, 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.
Southwood Acres ranks 3,778th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Southwood Acres
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.
Southwood Acres' strengths and weaknesses
Where Southwood Acres ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 92% of towns
Where Southwood Acres ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 54 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,463 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Southwood Acres
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Southwood Acres home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $111,908, 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 Southwood Acres' effective rate of 2.01%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Southwood Acres
Southwood Acres's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Southwood Acres.
Who works in Southwood Acres, and how
Work in Southwood Acres centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Southwood Acres
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Southwood Acres.
What the weather is like in Southwood Acres, month by month
Southwood Acres sees roughly 54 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 Southwood Acres
Bradley International sits about 6 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 Southwood Acres
Schools across Southwood Acres average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Edgar H. Parkman SchoolB− · 41% proficient
Top middle schools
- John F. Kennedy Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Enfield High SchoolB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Southwood Acres school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Southwood Acres 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 Southwood Acres against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Southwood Acres
Is Southwood Acres a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Southwood Acres ranks 3,778th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and fast internet, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Southwood Acres expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $271,747. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $111,908 median income, cost of living beats 92% of towns.
Is Southwood Acres safe?
Yes, Southwood Acres is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $142 per resident a year.
Compare Southwood Acres with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Southwood Acres. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Southwood Acres 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.
Southwood Acres detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Southwood Acres: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Southwood Acres: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Southwood Acres: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Southwood Acres: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Southwood Acres 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.