Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The typical home is worth about $347K, 6 years of the county’s $58K median household income. Overall it grades C, 124th among Connecticut's 151 graded towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 70% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Its National Register listings include Beleden House and Federal Hill Historic District. 19% of working residents work locally in Bristol, above both the Connecticut town median (11%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). The biggest place to walk is Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve, 270 acres with 8.3 miles of trail.
Where Bristol beats most towns.
Forestville Passenger Station
Census counts: 2,462 in 1790, a low of 1,362 in 1820, 60,833 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1901 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
17 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bristol takes its name from Bristol, England, 3,280 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionBristol, settled in 1785, takes its name from Bristol, a city in England.
6 more U.S. towns are named after Bristol:Bristol, RI21,970Bristol, PA9,970Bristol, IN1,818Bristol Township, MN449Bristol, SD278+1 more
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Bristol is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bristol. Close and well known come first.
in town Theme parkLake Compounce
15 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
35 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
26 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
18 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney Stadium
30 mi Theme parkSix Flags New EnglandLake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bristol, 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 Bristol.
Bristol is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Connecticut; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Connecticut and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Bristol’s median household income is $79,000. The top destinations are Hartford (8%), Farmington (6%) and Southington (5%). Bristol’s average trip to work is 24 minutes.
| Bristol | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $79,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Bristol School District. Two of its 17 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greene-Hills SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 918 | C+ |
| Bristol Central High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,148 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
28 miles of trail in 23 parks and preserves. The trail density in Bristol is 1.1 miles per square mile.
| Bristol | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.5% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hoppers-Birge Pond Nature Preserve | 8.3 mi | 270 |
| 2. Rockwell Park | 2.8 mi | 121 |
| 3. Barnes Nature Center Preserve | 2.7 mi | 57 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 758 to 437 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 80% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
Bristol beats the Connecticut average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 18% of adults report frequent mental distress in Bristol.
| Bristol | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 31% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Bristol | CT |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 12.3% | 10.6% |
| More adults with depression | 23.6% | 20.6% |
| More adults with asthma | 12.3% | 11% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
190 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 32 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1979, 190 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bristol.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 6 years of the county’s $58K median household income, the typical home (about $347K) costs more against local pay than in 77% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
65% of Bristol households own their home. Typical home values rose 5.6% in the year to September 2026. 56% of Bristol renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent.
| Bristol | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 81% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 56% | 50% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,338 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Bristol has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
8 within 15 miles of the center of Bristol
About 6 of every 100 Bristol residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
17 places in Bristol on the National Register of Historic Places.
42 notable people were born in Bristol.
City in Connecticut, United States
Bristol is a suburban city located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The city is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 60,833. Bristol is the location of the general headquarters of ESPN, the location of Lake Compounce, the United States's oldest continuously operating theme park, and is facing approval in 2024 to become home to one of the largest biomedical waste incineration operations in the United States. Bristol was known as a clock-making city in the 19th century, and is the location of American Clock & Watch Museum. Bristol is also the site of the former American Silver Company and its predecessor companies. …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Bristol.
All 6 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C; Plainville (B) is closest.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol | #124 | C | D− | B+ | C+ | B+ |
| Plainville | #87 | B | B− | B− | C+ | B |
| Burlington | #55 | B+ | C | — | B+ | A |
| Plymouth | #85 | B | C | A | C+ | A− |
| Southington | #65 | B+ | C | B− | B+ | A |
| Terryville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wolcott | #46 | A− | D | A+ | B− | A |
| Farmington | #29 | A− | D | B− | A | A+ |
Burlington reports no FBI crime data of its own. Terryville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bristol with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bristol grades C overall, better than 33% of U.S. towns and #124 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
42 notable people were born here, including Gary Burghoff and Mike Reiss.
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