Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Norwich earns a D, 145th of 151 graded towns in Connecticut, mostly because of schools. Its public schools trail 93% of Connecticut towns on state tests and graduation. In its favor, it is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 100% of U.S. towns, with 35 places on the National Register. Its National Register listings include Converse House and Barn and Bradford-Huntington House. On incomes, just 8 of Connecticut’s 175 towns do worse. Homes are expensive, about $306K for a typical one and 4.7 times the county’s $65K median household income.
Where Norwich beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Bradford-Huntington House| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Moriarty Magnet School | PK–5 | 404 |
| John B. Stanton School | PK–5 | 382 |
| Integrated Day Charter School | PK–8 | 364 |
Its 35 National Register listings are more than in 95% of Connecticut towns with a listing.
Census counts: 3,476 in 1800, 40,125 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1750 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Norwich is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norwich. Close and well known come first.
Big draw36 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
4 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
38 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
34 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
20 mi State parkGillette Castle State Park
31 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Gillette Castle State Park: Original uploader was Kevinpepin at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norwich, 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 Norwich.
Norwich is healthier than towns with similar incomes, costs less than Montville or any other town next door and is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s.
Its public schools are run by the Norwich School District. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly STEAM Magnet Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 593 | C− |
| Norwich Free AcademyLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,020 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Montville is next at $366K.
54% of Norwich households own their home, where Connecticut’s towns sit at 81% and U.S. towns at 73%. Typical home values rose 6.5% in the year to September 2026.
| Norwich | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,253 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
208 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 71% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 208 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Norwich.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Norwich has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 19° and about 28 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
18 miles of trail in 66 parks and preserves. At 0.6 miles per square mile, Norwich’s trail density is below the Connecticut town median (1.3) and near the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Mohegan Park, 475 acres with 3.9 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mohegan Park | 3.9 mi | 475 |
| 2. Taftville Watershed Reserve Land | 1.6 mi | 220 |
| 3. Bog Meadow Watershed Reserve Land | 1.3 mi | 356 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Norwich for work: only 18% work in town. 17% of Norwich residents live below the poverty line. Among 155 Connecticut towns, just 7 have a lower share of workers working from home than Norwich.
| Norwich | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.2% | 16% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 11% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 9,932 U.S. towns with household incomes like Norwich’s, it is healthier than 56%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income. All 6 graded neighbors score healthier than its C+, from Sprague (B) to Preston (A−).
Norwich beats the Connecticut average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 31% of adults get no exercise outside work in Norwich. Only 6 of the 154 Connecticut towns we compare have a higher share of adults who report frequent physical distress than Norwich.
| Norwich | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 22% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 33% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 8.8% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Norwich | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.5% | 8.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.1% | 9.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 20.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 72% of Connecticut’s graded towns.
The violent crime rate in Norwich is 2.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Norwich | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.2 per 1,000 residents | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.2 per 1,000 residents | 9.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
3 within 15 miles of the center of Norwich
About 6 of every 100 Norwich residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
35 places in Norwich on the National Register of Historic Places.
45 notable people were born in Norwich.
City in Connecticut, United States
Norwich ( NOR-wich) is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long Island Sound. The city is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 40,125 at the 2020 United States Census. The Norwich–New London metropolitan area includes 21 towns and 274,055 people.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Norwich.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Sprague (C−) is closest.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwich | #145 | D | D | B− | D | C+ |
| Montville | #105 | B− | C+ | — | C+ | A− |
| Bozrah | — | — | C+ | — | C− | A− |
| Preston | #114 | C+ | C | — | C+ | A− |
| Lisbon | #104 | B− | C− | — | B− | B |
| Sprague | #131 | C− | C+ | — | D | B |
| Franklin | — | — | B+ | — | B | A− |
| Baltic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Bozrah and Franklin have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Montville, Bozrah, Preston, Lisbon, Sprague and Franklin report no FBI crime data of their own. Baltic isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Norwich with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Norwich grades D overall, better than 5% of U.S. towns and #145 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades C+ for health, B− for safety and D 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 Annie Proulx and Edith Roosevelt.
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