Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
94% more nonprofits per person than the typical Connecticut town.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Bethlehem grades B+ overall, ranked 74th of 151 in Connecticut. It is healthier than 85% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $109K. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $519K for a typical one and 6 times the Waterbury metro’s $86K median household income. Bethlehem’s trail density is 0.3 miles per square mile, against 1.3 in Connecticut’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Bethlehem's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 96% of U.S. towns. Bethlehem has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Bethlehem Green Historic District and Joseph Bellamy House.
Where Bethlehem beats most towns.
Joseph Bellamy HouseCensus counts: 932 in 1820, a low of 536 in 1920, 3,385 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 5 maps from 1893 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Bethlehem is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bethlehem. Close and well known come first.
15 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
16 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
26 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
36 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
29 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
32 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumLake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bethlehem, 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 Bethlehem.
Bethlehem has added half again as many jobs in ten years and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Connecticut; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Connecticut.
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 61% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Connecticut is no health insurance: 5.6% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10% statewide.
30% of Bethlehem adults sleep under 7 hours, below both the Connecticut town median (34%) and the median of U.S. towns (36%). 29% of adults feel lonely in Bethlehem. Bethlehem beats the Connecticut average on 11 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Bethlehem | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 31% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Bethlehem | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.6% | 10% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.4% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Regional School District 14. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 276 | B |
| The Woodhall School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 45 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 600 in 2013 to 952.
Most working residents leave Bethlehem for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Bethlehem grew to 952 in 2023, 352 more than in 2013. Bethlehem’s average trip to work is 29 minutes.
| Bethlehem | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $109,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 14% | 16% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Bethlehem has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Bethlehem is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
5.9 miles of trail in 24 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Swendsen Farm Preserve, at 129 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bellamy Preserve | 2.2 mi | 96 |
| 2. Swendsen Farm Preserve | 0.9 mi | 129 |
| 3. B. Earl Canfield Jr. Preserve | — | 50 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 6 years of the Waterbury metro’s $86K median household income, the typical home (about $519K) costs more against local pay than in 77% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
The typical Bethlehem home is worth about $519,000, up 2.2% in a year, 16% above the Connecticut typical home. 70% of Bethlehem households own their home.
| Bethlehem | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 70% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,127 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
People 65 and older are 24% of residents (19% statewide). Bethlehem has grown 2% since 2020, to 3,455 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 39% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 43% across Connecticut.
| Bethlehem | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 51.5 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 16% | 19% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 45% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.1 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Bethlehem | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 6.7% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.6% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 23.1% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 19.6% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.8% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 0.9% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 30.2% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.3% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.9% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.4% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,500, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 62% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Bethlehem since 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bethlehem
About 5 of every 100 Bethlehem residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Where Bethlehem’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Bethlehem on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Bethlehem is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 3,385 at the 2020 census, down from 3,607 at the 2010 census. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The town center is a historic district and a census-designated place (CDP). The town's name has prompted thousands of visitors each December to mail their Christmas cards at the renowned local post office, situated at 34 East Street, in order to get a "Bethlehem" postmark. The post office also has nearly 100 Christmas-related stamps for customers to decorate their envelopes during the holiday season. Bethlehem is one of the two towns in Litchfield County served by the area code 203/are…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Bethlehem.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethlehem | #74 | B+ | C− | — | B | A |
| Washington | #58 | B+ | C− | — | A | A |
| Morris | — | — | C | — | — | A |
| Woodbury | #102 | B− | D | — | B | A |
| Watertown | #75 | B+ | C− | B | C+ | A |
| Bethlehem Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Morris has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bethlehem, Washington, Morris and Woodbury report no FBI crime data of their own. Bethlehem Village isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bethlehem with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Bethlehem grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #74 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
2 notable people were born here, including Harvey Prindle Peet and David Leavitt.
_-_2025.svg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}