Best PlacesWestminster, CT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Westminster, 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.
Westminster ranks 5,258th 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 Westminster
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.
Westminster's strengths and weaknesses
Where Westminster ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
Where Westminster ranks low
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,310 a month, better than only 9% of towns
- Short commute34.1 minutes each way, better than only 16% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Westminster
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westminster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $108,347, 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 Westminster's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 Westminster
Westminster runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Westminster.
Who works in Westminster, and how
Work in Westminster 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 3%
Life in Westminster
The coast is about 44 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Westminster, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Westminster, month by month
Westminster sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 30° | 20° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Westminster
The nearest airport, Westerly State, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 37 miles away.
The best schools in and around Westminster
Schools across Westminster average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Scotland Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Canterbury Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Hampton Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dr. Helen Baldwin Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Parish Hill High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Plainfield High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westminster school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westminster 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 Westminster against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Westminster
Is Westminster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westminster ranks 5,258th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, fast internet, and tree cover, 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 Westminster expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $337,972. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $108,347 median income, cost of living beats 89% of towns.
Is Westminster safe?
Yes, Westminster is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $140 per resident a year.
Compare Westminster with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westminster. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westminster 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.
Westminster detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westminster: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westminster: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westminster: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westminster: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westminster 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.