Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Canton grades A− overall, 24th of 151 graded towns in Connecticut. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 95% of the country. The median household earns $118K and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 84% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $473K, 5 years of the Hartford metro’s $95K median household income. Canton’s trail density is 2.0 miles per square mile, above both Connecticut’s towns (1.3) and U.S. towns (0.4). Canton has 3 places on the National Register. Only 1 of the 90 Connecticut towns we compare have a lower violent crime rate than Canton.
Where Canton beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,322 in 1820, 10,124 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 4 maps from 1892 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 Canton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Canton. Close and well known come first.
24 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
13 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
15 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
19 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
16 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney Stadium
38 mi Stadium & arenaYale BowlSpringfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Canton, 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 Canton.
Canton has less no health insurance than most of Connecticut, sees little violent crime and has an unusually large share working from home.
51 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Nepaug Reservoir Watershed Reserve Land, at 503 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Werner's Woods | 4.4 mi | 162 |
| 2. Sweetheart Mountain Trails | 2.5 mi | 63 |
| 3. Uplands Preserve | 1.8 mi | 102 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Canton School District. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Canton High School, with 443 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Brook Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 426 | A |
| Canton High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 443 | A |
| Canton Intermediate SchoolTop results in townGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 333 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Connecticut is no health insurance: 4.4% of those 18–64 have no health insurance, against 10% statewide.
11% of Canton adults report frequent physical distress, below both the Connecticut town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). 8.3% of Canton adults smoke cigarettes. Canton beats the Connecticut average on 16 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 3.
| Canton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.3% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 22% | 25% |
| What stands out | Canton | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.4% | 10% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.2% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.6% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
24.8% of workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut.
Most working residents leave Canton for work: only 11% work in town. Since 2013, Canton has added 392 jobs, to 3,234 in 2023. Canton’s average trip to work is 29 minutes.
| Canton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $118,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.7% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 21 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Canton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Canton has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 17° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Typical home values rose 4.6% in the year to September 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of Canton
About 3 of every 100 Canton residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Where Canton’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Canton on the National Register of Historic Places.
9 notable people were born in Canton.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Canton is a town, incorporated in 1806, located in the Farmington Valley of Connecticut in the United States. It is part of Connecticut's Capitol Planning Region and the population was 10,124 as of the 2020 census. It is bordered by Granby on the north, Simsbury on the east, Avon and Burlington on the south, New Hartford on the west, and Barkhamsted on the northwest. Running through it is the Farmington River. The town includes the villages of North Canton, Canton Center, Canton (Canton Valley), and Collinsville. In September 2007, Collinsville was ranked in Budget Travel magazine as one of the "Ten Coolest Small Towns In America".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Canton.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canton | #24 | A− | C− | A− | B+ | A |
| New Hartford | #60 | B+ | C | — | B | A+ |
| Collinsville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Burlington | #55 | B+ | C | — | B+ | A |
| Avon | #19 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Simsbury | #21 | A | D | A− | A− | A+ |
| Barkhamsted | #50 | A− | B− | — | B | A+ |
| Granby | #16 | A | C | A | B+ | A |
New Hartford, Burlington and Barkhamsted report no FBI crime data of their own. Collinsville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Canton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Canton grades A− overall, better than 85% of U.S. towns and #24 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health, A− for safety 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−.
9 notable people were born here, including Danny Hoffman and Lucien Barbour.
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