Best PlacesWallingford, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wallingford, 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.
Wallingford ranks 502nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wallingford
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.
Wallingford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wallingford ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 93% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of cities
Where Wallingford ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 3% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 8% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,583 a month, better than only 10% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wallingford
A household needs to earn about $115,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wallingford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $125,428, 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 Wallingford's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 Wallingford
Wallingford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wallingford.
Who works in Wallingford, and how
Work in Wallingford centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wallingford
Wallingford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 82% of cities. The coast is about 19 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wallingford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wallingford, month by month
Wallingford sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Wallingford
The nearest airport, Tweed/New Haven, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 33 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wallingford
Schools across Wallingford average a B, better than 57% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Mary G. Fritz Elementary School Of YalesvilleA− · 61% proficient
- Rock Hill SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Pond Hill SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dodd Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
- Frank Ward Strong SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- James H. Moran Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Coginchaug Regional High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Cheshire High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Lyman Hall High SchoolB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wallingford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wallingford 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 Wallingford against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Wallingford suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 84% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wallingford
Is Wallingford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wallingford ranks 502nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on civic engagement, tree cover, and health care access, and lowest on cell coverage and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wallingford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $392,158. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $125,428 median income, cost of living beats 84% of cities.
Is Wallingford safe?
Yes, Wallingford is safer than 87% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wallingford?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 21. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 18% of cities.
Is Wallingford good for families?
Schools beat 57% of cities, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $1,583 a month.
Compare Wallingford with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wallingford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wallingford 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.
Wallingford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wallingford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wallingford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wallingford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wallingford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wallingford 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.