Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Orange grades B overall, 91st among Connecticut's 151 graded towns. It is healthier than 96% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $142K and its public schools beat 86% of Connecticut towns on state tests and graduation. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $492K for a typical one and 5.6 times the New Haven metro’s $88K median household income. Orange’s property offense rate is 36.7 per 1,000 residents, above both Connecticut’s towns (9.6) and U.S. towns (9.9). On safety, just 4 of Connecticut’s 92 towns do worse. Turkey Hill Preserve, at 373 acres with 4.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Orange beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,341 in 1830, a low of 1,329 in 1840, 14,280 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 6 maps from 1889 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Orange is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Orange. Close and well known come first.
4 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
5 mi MuseumYale University Art Gallery
25 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
5 mi MuseumYale Center for British Art
27 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
6 mi MuseumYale Peabody MuseumYale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yale University Art Gallery: Ragesoss, Public domain · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Yale Center for British Art: Sage Ross, Public domain · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Yale Peabody Museum: No machine-readable author provided. Ragesoss assumed (based on copyright claims, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Orange, 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 Orange.
Orange draws workers from West Haven and beyond, 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: 6.5% of its 11,239 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.9% statewide.
For adults in Orange, the share who feel lonely is 30%. Against the Connecticut average, Orange comes out ahead on 19 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 1. Among adults here, 7.4% smoke cigarettes and 19% have been diagnosed with depression.
| Orange | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.4% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 22% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Orange | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.5% | 14.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.7% | 10% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.8% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
That grade comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $492K.
Its public schools are run by the Orange School District. Below: Three of its 9 schools, each with why it was picked. The 5 public schools in Orange teach 1,633 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peck Place SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 1–6 | Grades 1–6 | 386 | A− |
| Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 244 | – |
| Turkey Hill SchoolTop results in townGrades 1–6 | Grades 1–6 | 297 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
10,254 jobs are based in Orange, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
The top destinations are New Haven (17%), Milford (10%) and West Haven (5%). Orange: 3.9% of residents live below the poverty line. Half the trips to work are shorter than 7 miles. Jobs in Orange grew by 520 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 10,254.
| Orange | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $142,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.9% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 16% | 15% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
30 miles of trail wind through 14 parks and preserves. Orange’s density of trails stands at 1.8 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves here: 14, covering 1,114 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Maltby Lakes | 4.6 mi | 273 |
| 2. Turkey Hill Preserve | 4.1 mi | 373 |
| 3. Racebrook Tract | 2.2 mi | 256 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 40.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 96% of Connecticut’s graded towns. Property crime runs at 36.7 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the Connecticut rate, most of it theft.
Orange’s violent offense rate comes in at 0.1 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Orange has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Summer afternoons peak near 84° in July, and January nights bottom out around 22°; snowfall runs to about 34 inches a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
129 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 18 properties have flooded more than once.
Paid flood insurance claims in Orange since 1979: 129. On expected storm and flood damage, Orange sits above 52% of U.S. communities. 65% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by hurricanes at 24%.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Nearly nine in ten households are owner-occupiers in Orange. In Orange, the typical rent is $2,172 a month. A home in Orange typically sold within 151 days of listing.
| Orange | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,172 a month | $1,448 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 89% | 81% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Orange
About 6 of every 100 Orange residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
Where Orange’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Orange on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Orange is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 14,280 at the 2020 census. The town is governed by a Board of Selectmen.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Orange.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | #91 | B | D | C− | A | A+ |
| West Haven | #132 | C− | D− | B | C− | B− |
| Milford | — | — | C− | C+ | — | — |
| Derby | #142 | D | D− | C− | D | B+ |
| Woodbridge | #18 | A | C− | B+ | A | A+ |
| Shelton | #71 | B+ | D | A− | B− | A |
| New Haven | #148 | D− | D− | D | D | C+ |
Milford isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Orange with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Orange grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #91 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A+ for health, C− for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $492,000, 10% above 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 D.
