Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Norfolk’s best subject grades are an A for health and an A+ for history and civic life; its weakest is a C− for cost of living. Of the 156 Connecticut towns we compare, none has a lower January low than Norfolk. 49% of the land in Norfolk is conserved, against 14% in Connecticut’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Norfolk Historic District and Farnum House. On civic life, just 11 of Connecticut’s 174 towns do better. Norfolk has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Norfolk beats most towns.
Tamarack Lodge Bungalow
Census counts: 1,422 in 1820, a peak of 2,156 in 1980, 1,588 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1765 and 2 maps from 1956 on.
25 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Norfolk is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norfolk, 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 Norfolk.
50 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. Great Mountain Forest, at 4,317 acres with 13.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. At 1.1 miles per square mile, Norfolk’s trail density is where Connecticut’s towns sit at 1.3 and U.S. towns at 0.4.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Great Mountain Forest | 13.1 mi | 4,317 |
| 2. Pine Mountain Preserve | 4.6 mi | 368 |
| 3. Haystack Mountain State Park | 4 mi | 385 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Norfolk School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Botelle Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 61 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Norfolk beats the Connecticut average on 12 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 28% of adults feel lonely in Norfolk.
| Norfolk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 33% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 33% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 81% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 35% |
| What stands out | Norfolk | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.8% | 10% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.9% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.9% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Norfolk for work: only 10% work in town. 23% of Norfolk workers work from home. Since 2013, Norfolk has lost 96 jobs, to 188 in 2023.
| Norfolk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 23% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $92,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7.5% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 29% of residents (19% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Norfolk is 48.2 years. 49% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 43% across Connecticut.
| Norfolk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 29% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 16% | 19% | 22% |
| Median age | 48.2 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.7 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Norfolk | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.9% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.8% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 3.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.9% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.7% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.6% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 20% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 1.9% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 15.9% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.6% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 18% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.5% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 28.1% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,600, single groups can be off by several points
Norfolk’s July high is 80°F. Norfolk has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Norfolk since 2023.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norfolk. Close and well known come first.
32 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
39 mi National Historic SiteHome of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site102K visitors a year
26 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
29 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
29 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
27 mi TheatreTanglewoodSpringfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site: Crunch, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Tanglewood: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0
None within 15 miles of Norfolk; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Norfolk residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
48.6% of the town is conserved land, across 12 parks and preserves.
25 places in Norfolk on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Norfolk.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Norfolk is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,588 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The urban center of the town is the Norfolk census-designated place, with a population of 553 at the 2010 census. Norfolk is the home of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, an annual chamber music concert series hosted by the Yale School of Music. The festival takes place in the Music Shed, a performance hall located on the Ellen Battell Stoeckel estate to the west of the village green. Norfolk has important examples of regional architecture, including the Village Hall (now Infinity Hall, a shingled 1880s Arts-and-Crafts co…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Norfolk.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk | — | — | C− | — | B | A |
| Canaan | — | — | D− | — | B− | A− |
| Goshen | — | — | C | — | — | A |
| Colebrook | — | — | C | — | B+ | A |
| North Canaan | #122 | C | B− | — | B− | B− |
Norfolk, Canaan and Colebrook have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Norfolk, Canaan, Goshen, Colebrook and North Canaan report no FBI crime data of their own. Goshen isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Norfolk with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $431,000, 4% 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−.
8 notable people were born here, including William Henry Welch and Ellen Battell Stoeckel.
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