Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Essex Village’s mean commuting time is 38 minutes, above both the Connecticut town median (27 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 2 of the 156 Connecticut towns we compare have a higher age of the median resident than Essex Village. Essex Village’s density of trails is 2.2 miles per square mile, above both Connecticut’s towns (1.3) and U.S. towns (0.4). Viney Hill Brook Park, at 107 acres with 2.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. We don’t grade Essex Village yet; the figures below are still real.
Where Essex Village beats most towns.
Census counts: 950 in 1850, 6,733 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1790 and 4 maps from 1893 on.
Ordered by what stands out in Essex Village.
Summer afternoons peak near 83° in July, and January nights bottom out around 21°; snowfall runs to about 28 inches a winter. Essex Village has chilly winters and pleasant summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
3.6% of residents live below the poverty line in Essex Village. Commuting out is the norm in the town: nearly a tenth of working residents work locally. Its median household income comes in at $103,000. The top destinations are Essex (16%), Hartford (6%) and New Haven (6%).
| Essex Village | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.6% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Storm and flood damage is expected to run higher than in 63% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts 77% of Essex Village’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 10% to hurricanes.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No town among the 155 in Connecticut we compare has a lower share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Essex Village. Essex Village: nearly a quarter of adults feel lonely. Among 155 Connecticut towns, just 3 have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Essex Village. Against the Connecticut average, Essex Village comes out ahead on 19 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 5.
| Essex Village | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 17% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 31% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 87% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Essex Village | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 4.5% | 14.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 4.4% | 12.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 14.3% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Trails run 11 miles in 14 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Viney Hill Brook Park | 2.9 mi | 107 |
| 2. Turtle Creek Preserve | 1.4 mi | 50 |
| 3. Heron Pond Preserve | 1 mi | 28 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes sold in Essex Village spent a median 45 days on the market. The typical rent locally is $2,056 a month. The share of households in Essex Village who live in a home they own: 92%.
| Essex Village | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,056 a month | $1,450 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 92% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Essex Village. Close and well known come first.
5 mi State parkGillette Castle State Park
18 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
30 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
32 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arenain town Scenic railwayValley Railroad
30 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumGillette Castle State Park: Original uploader was Kevinpepin at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
Essex Village is unincorporated, so Middlesex County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
1 within 15 miles of the center of Essex Village
About 10 of every 100 Essex Village residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 6,733 at the 2020 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Essex Village.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essex Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Essex | #27 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Lyme | — | — | C− | — | A | A |
| Old Saybrook | #51 | A− | D | B | A− | A |
| Deep River | #33 | A− | C | — | A− | A |
Lyme has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Essex, Lyme and Deep River report no FBI crime data of their own. Essex Village isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Essex Village with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
We don’t grade Essex Village yet; the figures below are still real.
Ask a question, answer one, post a photo or an event. Free, and the parts only a neighbor would know are the parts worth reading.
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