Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
East Haven grades C− overall, ranked 130th of 151 in Connecticut, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns and it has 19 miles of trail. On the other side, its public schools trail 85% of Connecticut towns on state tests and graduation. Its National Register listings include First Congregational Church of East Haven and East Haven Green Historic District. East Haven’s property crime rate is 17.3 per 1,000 residents, against 9.6 in Connecticut’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Lake Saltonstall Watershed Reserve Land, 638 acres with 4.5 miles of trail.
Where East Haven beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,237 in 1820, a low of 955 in 1890, 27,923 in 2020. The archive holds 27 old photos and papers going back to 1910 and 6 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 East Haven is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around East Haven. Close and well known come first.
6 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
4 mi MuseumYale University Art Gallery
24 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
4 mi MuseumYale Center for British Art
4 mi MuseumYale Peabody Museum
34 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank ArenaYale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yale University Art Gallery: Ragesoss, Public domain · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Yale Center for British Art: Sage Ross, Public domain · Yale Peabody Museum: No machine-readable author provided. Ragesoss assumed (based on copyright claims, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in East Haven, 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 East Haven.
East Haven is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Connecticut; it also has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Its public schools are run by the East Haven School District. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Melillo Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 461 | C |
| East Haven High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 879 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
East Haven’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lake Saltonstall Watershed Reserve Land | 4.5 mi | 638 |
| 2. Farm River State Park | 1.2 mi | 61 |
| 3. Bailey Woods | 0.4 mi | 30 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave East Haven for work: only 8% work in town. 9% of workers work from home in East Haven. The top destinations are New Haven (22%), Branford (7%) and North Haven (7%).
| East Haven | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 9% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $95,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.2% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1,347 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 242 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 1,347 flood insurance claims have been paid out in East Haven.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
East Haven has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 22° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 25 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 83% of Connecticut’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 760 to 506 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 88% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar. Against the 9,347 U.S. towns with household incomes like East Haven’s, it is less healthy than 61%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
East Haven beats the Connecticut average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 30% of East Haven adults get no exercise outside work. Only 10 of the 154 Connecticut towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than East Haven.
| East Haven | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 22% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 6.1% | 8.1% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 31% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 8.8% | 14% |
| What stands out | East Haven | CT |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 13.9% | 9.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.9% | 10% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 16.1% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median rent in East Haven is $1,528 a month.
| East Haven | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,528 a month | $1,448 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 75% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5 within 15 miles of the center of East Haven
About 5 of every 100 East Haven residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Coastal flooding makes up 10% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
3 places in East Haven on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Connecticut, United States
East Haven is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 27,923. The town is located 3 miles (5 km) east of New Haven, and is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. East Haven is 35 miles (56 km) from Hartford, 82 miles (132 km) from New York City, 99 miles (159 km) from Providence, Rhode Island, and 140 miles (230 km) from Boston.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with East Haven.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Haven | #130 | C− | C− | C+ | C− | B− |
| Branford | #90 | B | D | B− | B− | A |
| New Haven | #148 | D− | D− | D | D | C+ |
| North Haven | #84 | B | D | C | B | A |
| North Branford | #76 | B | D | A− | B | A |
| Northford | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Northford isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare East Haven with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
East Haven grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #130 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $294,000, 34% below the Connecticut typical home.
2 notable people were born here, including Megan Bayne and Josiah Burr Plumb.
_-_2025.svg){kind=link}