Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Homes are expensive, about $668K for a typical one and 7.4 times the county’s $90K median household income. Overall it grades C+, 109th among Connecticut's 151 graded towns. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 86% of the country and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 95% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 27 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Lockwood-Mathews Mansion and Rock Ledge. Norwalk’s median rent is $2,073 a month, against $1,448 a month in Connecticut’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Among 155 Connecticut towns, just 6 have a higher January low than Norwalk.
Where Norwalk beats most towns.
Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 11,942 in 1790, a low of 2,983 in 1810, 91,184 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1784 and 6 maps from 1892 on.
27 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Norwalk is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 1%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norwalk. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi GardenCentral Park40.0M visitors a year
Big draw38 mi Stadium & arenaMadison Square Garden
Big draw35 mi MuseumUnited States Military Academy
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaMetLife Stadium
Big draw37 mi TheatreStudio 54
Big draw36 mi MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art2.0M visitors a yearCentral Park: Ed Yourdon from New York City, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madison Square Garden: Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA, CC BY 2.0 · United States Military Academy: USMA Public Affairs Office, Public domain · MetLife Stadium: babyknight, CC BY 2.0 · Studio 54: Americasroof (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Metropolitan Museum of Art: Hugo Schneider, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norwalk, 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 Norwalk.
Norwalk trades workers with Stamford and other neighbors, but it reports more crime than Westport and its other graded neighbors and has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Connecticut.
At 7.4 years of the county’s $90K median household income, the typical home (about $668K) costs more against local pay than in 91% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Wilton is next at $1.27M.
56% of Norwalk households own their home. Typical home values rose 5.9% in the year to September 2026.
| Norwalk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 56% | 81% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 52% | 50% | 48% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Each of its 4 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its C, New Canaan highest at A+.
Its public schools are run by the Norwalk School District. Three of its 25 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Rocks Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 657 | C+ |
| Brien McMahon High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,739 | B− |
| Center for Global StudiesTop results in townGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 283 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 58% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar. All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its A, from Wilton (A+) to Darien (A+).
17% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Norwalk. Norwalk beats the Connecticut average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 13% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in Norwalk.
| Norwalk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 22% | 23% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 6.1% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 35% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Norwalk | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with depression | 17.3% | 20.6% |
| Fewer adults with arthritis | 20.8% | 24.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.7% | 10% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Norwalk has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 24° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1,619 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 257 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 1,619 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Norwalk.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Norwalk has about as many jobs (36,354) as working residents, but only 9,082 people both live and work here.
About one in 5 of Norwalk’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Norwalk fell to 36,354 in 2023, 4,585 fewer than in 2013. The median household income in Norwalk is $108,000.
| Norwalk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 11% | 8% |
| Median household income | $108,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Norwalk is safe by national standards, yet each of the 4 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Westport (B+) to New Canaan (A). At 16.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 57% of Connecticut’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
14 miles of trail in 56 parks and preserves. Norwalk’s trail density is 0.4 miles per square mile. Only 7 of the 155 Connecticut towns we compare have a lower share of conserved land than Norwalk.
| Norwalk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cranbury Park | 4.8 mi | 187 |
| 2. Cranbury Dog Park | 1.8 mi | 51 |
| 3. Veterans Memorial Park | 1.1 mi | 41 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Connecticut average. Norwalk has grown 3.6% since 2020, to 94,508 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 45% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 43% across Connecticut.
| Norwalk | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 45% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 19% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 40.6 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.1 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 42.6, men 37.6.
| Norwalk | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.9% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.4% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.8% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.5% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.5% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.4% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.1% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.5% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.6% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.8% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
6 within 15 miles of the center of Norwalk
About 7 of every 100 Norwalk residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
27 places in Norwalk on the National Register of Historic Places.
45 notable people were born in Norwalk.
City in Connecticut, United States
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York Metropolitan Area, is the sixth-most populous city in Connecticut as of the 2020 census, with a population of 91,184.. The city is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. Norwalk is on the northern shore of Long Island Sound and was first settled in 1649.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Norwalk.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C+; Westport (A) is closest.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwalk | #109 | C+ | D− | B | C | A |
| Darien | #11 | A | D− | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Westport | #14 | A | D− | B+ | A+ | A+ |
| Tokeneke | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Saugatuck | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Old Hill | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| New Canaan | #7 | A+ | D− | A | A+ | A+ |
| Wilton | #3 | A+ | C− | A | A | A+ |
Tokeneke, Saugatuck and Old Hill aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Norwalk with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Norwalk grades C+ overall, better than 44% of U.S. towns and #109 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health, B for safety and C 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−.
45 notable people were born here, including Charli D'Amelio and George Smith.
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