Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Manchester's standout: it has 101 miles of trail. Overall it grades C, 127th among Connecticut's 151 graded towns. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 92% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is schools: its public schools trail 87% of Connecticut towns on state tests and graduation. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 8 places on the National Register. Manchester’s trail density is 3.7 miles per square mile, above both Connecticut’s towns (1.3) and U.S. towns (0.4). Its National Register listings include Cheney Brothers Historic District and Main Street Historic District.
Where Manchester beats most towns.
Cheney Brothers Historic District is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 2,546 in 1850, 59,713 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Manchester takes its name from Manchester in Greater Manchester, England, 3,230 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionManchester, settled in 1672, takes its name from Manchester, a city in Greater Manchester, England.
9 more U.S. towns are named after Manchester:Manchester Township, NJ46,556Manchester, MO18,069Manchester, TN13,776Manchester, WA5,956North Manchester, IN5,230+4 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 Manchester is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Manchester. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
8 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
5 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney Stadium
23 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
19 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
23 mi Theme parkLake CompounceLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Manchester, 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 Manchester.
Manchester has more trail for its size than nearly any town in Connecticut and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports more crime than East Hartford and its other graded neighbors.
At 3.7 miles of trail per square mile, it ranks #3 of 149 Connecticut towns.
Porter Howard Watershed Land, at 563 acres with 15.9 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Porter Howard Watershed Land | 15.9 mi | 563 |
| 2. Case Mountain Recreational Area | 13 mi | 398 |
| 3. Buckingham Reservoir Watershed | 10.1 mi | 508 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 5 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, Glastonbury highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the Manchester School District. Two of its 20 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elisabeth M. Bennet AcademyLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 864 | C− |
| Manchester High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,703 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 79% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
Manchester beats the Connecticut average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 17% of Manchester adults worry about having enough food, above both the Connecticut town median (8.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). 35% of Manchester adults feel lonely.
| Manchester | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 8.8% | 14% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 31% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Manchester | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.6% | 8.5% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 17.3% | 14.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Manchester has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Manchester has about as many jobs (25,395) as working residents, but only 4,651 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Manchester for work: only 17% work in town. The average trip to work in Manchester is 23 minutes. Since 2013, Manchester has lost 1,411 jobs, to 25,395 in 2023.
| Manchester | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 17% | 11% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from East Hartford (C+) to Glastonbury (B+). At 23.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 81% of Connecticut’s graded towns.
Manchester’s property crime rate is 17.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Manchester | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 17.7 per 1,000 residents | 9.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (22% statewide). 16% of residents are 65 or older in Manchester. 41% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 43% across Connecticut.
| Manchester | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 45% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 19% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.4 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women. Among residents 18 to 24, 62% are men (CT 51%). Median age: women 39.9, men 34.6.
| Manchester | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.1% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.5% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.1% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.2% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.2% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.6% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.4% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.3% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.5% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.4% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.2% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.3% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 53% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 22 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Manchester.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 2.6 years of the Hartford metro’s $95K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 99% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its C for cost of living.
The median sale price was $300,000 in May 2026.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
11 within 15 miles of the center of Manchester
About 6 of every 100 Manchester residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
17.6% of the town is conserved land, across 51 parks and preserves.
8 places in Manchester on the National Register of Historic Places.
52 notable people were born in Manchester.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713. The urban center of the town is the Manchester census-designated place, with a population of 36,379 at the 2020 census. The town is named after Manchester, in England.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Manchester.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | #127 | C | C | C+ | D | B+ |
| Glastonbury | #20 | A | C− | B+ | A | A+ |
| Bolton | #22 | A | C | — | B+ | A |
| East Hartford | #136 | C− | C+ | C+ | C− | C |
| South Windsor | #34 | A− | C− | B | A− | A+ |
| Vernon | #100 | B− | C | B+ | C | A− |
Bolton reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Manchester with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Manchester grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #127 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades B+ for health, C+ for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
The typical home is worth about $247,000, 45% below the Connecticut typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
52 notable people were born here, including Dana White and Daniel C. Burbank.
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