Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oxford grades B overall, 82nd of 151 graded towns in Connecticut. The median household earns $129K. CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 93% of the country. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $597K, 6.9 years of the Waterbury metro’s $86K median household income. On walkability, just 16 of Connecticut’s 175 towns do worse. Oxford’s trail density is 1.5 miles per square mile, close to Connecticut’s towns (1.3) and above U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Naugatuck State Forest, 901 acres with 11.5 miles of trail.
Where Oxford beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,683 in 1820, a low of 902 in 1890, 12,706 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 7 maps from 1889 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oxford takes its name from Oxford in Oxfordshire, England, 3,340 miles across the Atlantic.
UKUK editionOxford, settled in 1738, takes its name from Oxford, a city in Oxfordshire, England.
3 more U.S. towns are named after Oxford:Oxford, MS26,773Oxford, OH22,387Oxford, ME4,449
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Oxford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Oxford. Close and well known come first.
13 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
18 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
17 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
33 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
29 mi MuseumGlass House
9 mi Theme parkHoly Land USAYale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Glass House: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Holy Land USA: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Oxford, 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 Oxford.
Oxford has less tooth loss than most of Connecticut, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Connecticut and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Its widest gap with Connecticut is tooth loss: 4.6% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 9.8% statewide.
14% of adults report frequent mental distress in Oxford, where Connecticut’s towns sit at 15% and U.S. towns at 17%. 12% of Oxford adults say their health is fair or poor. Oxford beats the Connecticut average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Oxford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.8% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Oxford | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 4.6% | 9.8% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.7% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Oxford School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Oxford High School, with 476 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quaker Farms SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 384 | – |
| Oxford High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 476 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Rockhouse Hill Sanctuary | 15.7 mi | 554 |
| 2. Naugatuck State Forest | 11.5 mi | 901 |
| 3. Kettletown State Park | 3.1 mi | 239 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 6.9 years of the Waterbury metro’s $86K median household income, the typical home (about $597K) costs more against local pay than in 87% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 7.9% in the year to September 2026. 90% of households own their home in Oxford.
| Oxford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 90% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,415 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Oxford for work: only 9% work in town. The average trip to work in Oxford is 30 minutes. Jobs based in Oxford grew to 3,870 in 2023, 806 more than in 2013.
| Oxford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $129,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 4% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 14% | 16% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Oxford has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 18° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 15% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (19% statewide). Oxford has grown 4.8% since 2020, to 13,311 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Oxford’s median age is 45.2 years.
| Oxford | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 45% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 45.2 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 21% | 19% | 22% |
47% women, 53% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.4 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Oxford | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.7% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.6% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.5% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.1% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.3% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 15.9% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 2.4% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 22.7% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.6% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 27.7% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.6% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
99 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 15 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 99 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Oxford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
7 within 15 miles of the center of Oxford
About 4 of every 100 Oxford residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Where Oxford’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Oxford on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Oxford.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Oxford is a residential town located in western New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The population was 12,706 at the 2020 Census. Oxford is the 26th-wealthiest town in the state by median household income. Distinct settled areas in the town include Oxford Center, Quaker Farms, and Riverside. Oxford belongs to the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk Metropolitan Statistical Area, a subregion of the New York metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Oxford.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | #82 | B | C− | — | B | A |
| Southbury | #96 | B− | D | — | B+ | A |
| Seymour | #81 | B | D | A | C+ | A− |
| Beacon Falls | #101 | B− | D | — | B | A |
| East Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Monroe | #1 | A+ | B | A | A | A+ |
| Naugatuck | #111 | C+ | D | B | C | A− |
| Sandy Hook | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Oxford, Southbury and Beacon Falls report no FBI crime data of their own. East Village and Sandy Hook aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Oxford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Oxford grades B overall, better than 61% of U.S. towns and #82 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
5 notable people were born here, including Orson Hyde and Danny Aiken.
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