Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Old Saybrook grades A− overall, 51st of 151 graded towns in Connecticut. Residents are healthier than 95% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The median household earns $114K and its schools rank ahead of 76% of Connecticut towns. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $699K for a typical one and 7.3 times the Hartford metro’s $95K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 92% of U.S. towns, with 21 places on the National Register. 31% of residents are 65 or older in Old Saybrook, above both Connecticut’s towns (20%) and U.S. towns (18%). Its National Register listings include Old Saybrook South Green and Elisha Bushnell House. Among 155 Connecticut towns, just 3 have a higher median age than Old Saybrook.
Where Old Saybrook beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1635, comes before those of 97% of the Connecticut towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,105 in 1860, 10,481 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1765 and a map from 1893 on.
21 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Old Saybrook is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Old Saybrook. Close and well known come first.
9 mi State parkGillette Castle State Park
21 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
30 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
36 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
37 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
34 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumGillette Castle State Park: Original uploader was Kevinpepin at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Old Saybrook, 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 Old Saybrook.
Old Saybrook has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in Connecticut, has less food insecurity than most of Connecticut and is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s.
Its widest gap with Connecticut is food insecurity: 6.1% of its 9,001 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.9% statewide.
26% of adults feel lonely in Old Saybrook. Old Saybrook beats the Connecticut average on 18 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 12% of adults report frequent mental distress in Old Saybrook.
| Old Saybrook | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 31% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 34% | 36% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 85% | 81% | 79% |
| What stands out | Old Saybrook | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.1% | 14.9% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.8% | 12.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 12.6% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Old Saybrook School District. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Old Saybrook Senior High School, with 338 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kathleen E. Goodwin SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 383 | B+ |
| Old Saybrook Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 338 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
At 7.3 years of the Hartford metro’s $95K median household income, the typical home (about $699K) costs more against local pay than in 89% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Old Saybrook’s median rent is $1,846 a month. Typical home values rose 5.3% in the year to September 2026. 85% of Old Saybrook households own their home.
| Old Saybrook | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,846 a month | $1,448 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 85% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
36 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The trail density in Old Saybrook is 1.7 miles per square mile. The Preserve, at 914 acres with 19.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The Preserve | 19.5 mi | 914 |
| 2. Great Cedars Conservation Area | 4.6 mi | 382 |
| 3. Clark Community Park | 4.5 mi | 183 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Groton weather station, 18 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 207 days, the highest of 364 Connecticut places with climate records.
Old Saybrook has chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 22° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Old Saybrook has about as many jobs (5,216) as working residents, but only 814 people both live and work here. 26.2% of workers work from home, against 16% across Connecticut.
Most working residents leave Old Saybrook for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are New Haven (6%), Hartford (4%) and Essex (4%). Half commute less than 21 miles.
| Old Saybrook | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 26% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $114,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
628 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 89 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 628 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Old Saybrook.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 16.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 57% of Connecticut’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 179 to 121 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
None within 15 miles of Old Saybrook; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Old Saybrook residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Coastal flooding makes up 25% of the storm damage FEMA expects here.
20.9% of homes are seasonal or vacation homes, so the town is fuller in summer than its census count suggests.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA · OpenStreetMap
21 places in Old Saybrook on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Old Saybrook.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Old Saybrook is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, lying on the west bank of the Connecticut River at the point where it flows into Long Island Sound. Part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, the population was 10,481 at the 2020 census. It contains the incorporated borough of Fenwick, and the census-designated places of Old Saybrook Center and Saybrook Manor.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Old Saybrook.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its A−; Westbrook (A−) is closest.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Saybrook | #51 | A− | D | B | A− | A |
| Old Lyme | #12 | A | D | — | A | A |
| Westbrook | #39 | A− | C− | — | B+ | A |
| Essex | #27 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Essex Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Saybrook Manor | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Westbrook Center | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Old Saybrook Center | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Old Lyme, Westbrook and Essex report no FBI crime data of their own. Essex Village, Saybrook Manor, Westbrook Center and Old Saybrook Center aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Old Saybrook with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Old Saybrook grades A− overall, better than 76% of U.S. towns and #51 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health, B for safety and A− 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.
5 notable people were born here, including Alexis Sablone and Ann Petry.
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