Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Beacon Falls grades B− overall, 101st of 151 graded towns in Connecticut, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 88% of the country and the median household earns $102K. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $428K, 5 years of the Waterbury metro’s $86K median household income. Beacon Falls’ trail density is 3.3 miles per square mile, against 1.3 in Connecticut’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On history, just 2 of Connecticut’s 175 towns do worse. The biggest place to walk is Naugatuck State Forest, 1,176 acres with 14.5 miles of trail.
Where Beacon Falls beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Beacon Falls | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.7% | 14.9% |
Home Woolen Company26.5% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Beacon Falls is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 379 in 1880, 6,000 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 7 maps from 1889 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Beacon Falls. Close and well known come first.
10 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
15 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
22 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
30 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
7 mi Theme parkHoly Land USA
11 mi MuseumYale University Art GalleryYale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Holy Land USA: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Yale University Art Gallery: Ragesoss, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Beacon Falls, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Beacon Falls.
Beacon Falls has added a third more jobs in ten years and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Connecticut.
32 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Naugatuck State Forest | 14.5 mi | 1,176 |
| 2. Matthies Memorial Park | 1.5 mi | 107 |
| 3. Lantern Ridge Open Space | 1.1 mi | 105 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Regional School District 16. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Woodland Regional High School, with 571 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laurel Ledge SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 313 | B |
| Woodland Regional High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 571 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Within Connecticut it is healthier than 50% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Connecticut is food insecurity: 8.7% of its 4,880 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.9% statewide.
13% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Beacon Falls, close to Connecticut’s towns (14%) and below U.S. towns (19%). Beacon Falls beats the Connecticut average on 9 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 9.2% of Beacon Falls adults have diabetes.
| Beacon Falls | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 19% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 9.4% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Beacon Falls | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.7% | 14.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.1% | 10% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Jobs based here grew from 692 in 2013 to 976.
Most working residents leave Beacon Falls for work: only 4% work in town. The average trip to work in Beacon Falls is 33 minutes. Since 2013, Beacon Falls has added 284 jobs, to 976 in 2023.
| Beacon Falls | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 33 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 2.1% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.5% | 11% | 8% |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Beacon Falls has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 2011, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Beacon Falls.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
People 65 and older are 24% of residents (19% statewide). Beacon Falls’ median age is 48.4 years. Beacon Falls has grown 5% since 2020, to 6,307 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Beacon Falls | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 48.4 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 18% | 19% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 45% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Beacon Falls | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.2% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.5% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.5% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.8% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.7% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.6% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.9% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.7% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.8% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 23.8% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Beacon Falls home is worth about $428,000, up 2% in a year, close to the Connecticut typical home. 86% of households own their home in Beacon Falls.
| Beacon Falls | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,921 a month | $1,448 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 86% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
7 within 15 miles of the center of Beacon Falls
About 5 of every 100 Beacon Falls residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Where Beacon Falls’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Beacon Falls on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Beacon Falls is a town in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region and is approximately six miles from Waterbury. It lies in the southwestern part of the state, and is bisected by the Naugatuck River. The population was 6,000 at the 2020 census, down from 6,049 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Beacon Falls.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beacon Falls | #101 | B− | D | — | B | A |
| Naugatuck | #111 | C+ | D | B | C | A− |
| Oxford | #82 | B | C− | — | B | A |
| Seymour | #81 | B | D | A | C+ | A− |
| Bethany | #13 | A | D | — | A | A+ |
Beacon Falls, Oxford and Bethany report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Beacon Falls with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Beacon Falls grades B− overall, better than 48% of U.S. towns and #101 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
2 notable people were born here, including William Frederick Durand and Tanner Kingsley.
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