Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
New Milford grades B overall, 89th among Connecticut's 151 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It is healthier than 87% of U.S. towns and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 83% of U.S. towns. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 79% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 18% of the land in New Milford is conserved, above both Connecticut’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Its National Register listings include Lover's Leap Bridge and Boardman's Bridge.
Where New Milford beats most towns.
Census counts: 3,167 in 1790, 28,115 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1853 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
12 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far New Milford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Milford. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
7 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
27 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
31 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
26 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
30 mi National Historic SiteVanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site295K visitors a yearUnited States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site: Daderot, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Milford, 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 New Milford.
New Milford is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Connecticut; it also trails Bridgewater and its other neighbors on schools and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 58% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
29% of adults have high blood pressure in New Milford, below both the Connecticut town median (33%) and the median of U.S. towns (35%). 28% of New Milford adults have obesity. New Milford beats the Connecticut average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| New Milford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 31% | 33% |
| What stands out | New Milford | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.1% | 14.9% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.9% | 8.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Each of its 6 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C+, Bridgewater highest at A.
Its public schools are run by the New Milford School District. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is New Milford High School, with 1,150 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schaghticoke Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 791 | C+ |
| New Milford High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,150 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 207 to 151 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 12 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
New Milford’s property crime rate is 4.8 per 1,000 residents.
| New Milford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.8 per 1,000 residents | 9.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
108 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 17 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 108 flood insurance claims have been paid out in New Milford. Among 154 Connecticut towns, just 5 have a higher FEMA risk score than New Milford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
About one in 5 of New Milford’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in New Milford is 30 minutes. The top destinations are Danbury (18%), Brookfield (5%) and New York (3%).
| New Milford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 21% | 11% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $106,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 16% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
45 miles of trail in 30 parks and preserves. Sunny Valley Farm, at 307 acres with 1.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Carter Preserve | 2.5 mi | 168 |
| 2. Nostrand Preserve | 2.1 mi | 147 |
| 3. Lovers Leap State Park | 1.9 mi | 111 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
New Milford has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 17° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Connecticut average. 41% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in New Milford. New Milford has grown 2.9% since 2020, to 28,941 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| New Milford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 45% | 29% |
| Median age | 42.1 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 19% | 22% |
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.6 points). Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| New Milford | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.8% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.6% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.6% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.3% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.6% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.3% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.6% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.1% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.5% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.9% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 7.7% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.7% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.5% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of New Milford
About 5 of every 100 New Milford residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
12 places in New Milford on the National Register of Historic Places.
15 notable people were born in New Milford.
Town in Connecticut, United States
New Milford is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town, part of Greater Danbury, as well as the New York Metropolitan Area, has a population of 28,115 as of the 2020 census. New Milford is located within the Western Connecticut Planning Region. New Milford is located roughly 50 miles (80 km) west of Hartford, 63 miles (101 km) northeast of New York City proper, and 80 miles from Midtown Manhattan. New Milford lies 14 miles (23 km) north of Danbury on the banks of the Housatonic River, and shares its border with the northeastern shore of Candlewood Lake. It is the largest town in the state of Connecticut in terms of land area at nearly 63.7 mi2 (164.9822 km2). The t…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with New Milford.
All 5 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B; Sherman (B+) is closest. New Fairfield next door grades higher for schools (A− to New Milford’s C+) and lower for cost of living (D to C).
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Milford | #89 | B | C | A− | C+ | A |
| Bridgewater | — | — | C+ | — | A | A+ |
| Sherman | #68 | B+ | C− | — | B+ | A+ |
| Gaylordsville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Washington | #58 | B+ | C− | — | A | A |
| Brookfield | #45 | A− | C | A− | B | A+ |
| Kent | #23 | A | B | — | B+ | A |
| New Fairfield | #63 | B+ | D | — | A− | A |
Bridgewater has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bridgewater, Sherman, Washington, Kent and New Fairfield report no FBI crime data of their own. Gaylordsville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare New Milford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. New Milford grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #89 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health, A− for safety and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.4 years of the area's median household income ($114,565 across the Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
15 notable people were born here, including Elizabeth Bentley and Elijah Boardman.
