Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 19,223, settled in 1831.
For most people who can afford it, yes. East Lyme grades A− overall, ranked 32nd of 151 in Connecticut. It has 58 miles of trail. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 92% of the country and it reports less crime per resident than 89% of U.S. towns. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $532K for a typical one and 6.1 times the Norwich metro’s $87K median household income. 21% of the land in East Lyme is conserved, where Connecticut’s towns sit at 14% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. East Lyme has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Thomas Lee House and Rocky Neck Pavilion. East Lyme's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Where East Lyme beats most towns.
Where East Lyme’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far East Lyme is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,382 in 1850, 18,693 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around East Lyme. Close and well known come first.
12 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
12 mi State parkGillette Castle State Park
38 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
37 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
34 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney Stadium
14 mi MuseumMystic SeaportMohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gillette Castle State Park: Original uploader was Kevinpepin at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Mystic Seaport: Joethon, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in East Lyme, 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 Lyme.
East Lyme is healthy by national standards but mid-pack 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.
Within Connecticut it is healthier than 65% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Connecticut is food insecurity: 8% of its 6,908 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.9% statewide.
8% of East Lyme adults smoke cigarettes, against 9.7% in Connecticut’s towns and 14% across U.S. towns. 83% of adults had a checkup this year in East Lyme. East Lyme beats the Connecticut average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| East Lyme | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 31% | 33% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 16% |
| What stands out | East Lyme | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8% | 14.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.5% | 10% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.2% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the East Lyme School District. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is East Lyme High School, with 890 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Lyme Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 716 | B+ |
| East Lyme High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 890 | A |
| Flanders SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 242 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 4 reported in 2025, 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
East Lyme’s property crime rate is 4.9 per 1,000 residents.
| East Lyme | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.9 per 1,000 residents | 9.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The trail density in East Lyme is 1.4 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is The Sheffield Scientific School-Yale University, 1,660 acres with 4 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nehantic State Forest | 13.3 mi | 1,616 |
| 2. Rocky Neck State Park | 11.7 mi | 1,183 |
| 3. Oswegatchie Hills Nature Preserve | 8.9 mi | 451 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave East Lyme for work: only 15% work in town. 22% of East Lyme workers work from home. The top destinations are Groton (16%), New London (8%) and Waterford (6%).
| East Lyme | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 22% | 15% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 11% | 8% |
| Median household income | $105,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.5% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
East Lyme has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 22° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6.1 years of the Norwich metro’s $87K median household income, the typical home (about $533K) costs more against local pay than in 79% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 5.1% in the year to September 2026.
| East Lyme | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,462 a month | $1,448 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 81% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
People 65 and older are 26% of residents (19% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (22% statewide). East Lyme has grown 2.8% since 2020, to 19,223 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 51% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 43% across Connecticut.
| East Lyme | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 49.1 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 51% | 45% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 18% | 19% | 22% |
55% women, 45% men
About 82 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.6 points). Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| East Lyme | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 7.9% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.2% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.7% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.7% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.6% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 12.5% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.4% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 21.7% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.9% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.7% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.2% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 24% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
195 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 22 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 64% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 195 flood insurance claims have been paid out in East Lyme.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4 within 15 miles of the center of East Lyme
About 4 of every 100 East Lyme residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
6 places in East Lyme on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in East Lyme.
Town in Connecticut, United States
East Lyme is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 18,693 at the 2020 census. The villages of Niantic and Flanders are located in the town.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with East Lyme.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Lyme | #32 | A− | D | A | B+ | A |
| Old Lyme | #12 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Waterford | #92 | B | C− | B | B− | A− |
| Lyme | — | — | C− | — | A | A |
| Niantic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Salem | #36 | A− | C− | — | A | A |
Lyme has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Old Lyme, Lyme and Salem report no FBI crime data of their own. Niantic isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare East Lyme with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. East Lyme grades A− overall, better than 82% of U.S. towns and #32 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 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.
5 notable people were born here, including Tom Danielson and John Lee Comstock.
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