Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Plainville grades B overall, 87th of 151 graded towns in Connecticut, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $84K and it has 18 miles of trail. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 68% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Plainville’s trail density is 1.9 miles per square mile, above both the Connecticut town median (1.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). On cost of living, just 8 of Connecticut’s 175 towns do better. Plainville has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Charles H. Norton House and New Haven District Campground.
Where Plainville beats most towns.
Charles H. Norton House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,433 in 1870, 17,525 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1878 and 6 maps from 1892 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 Plainville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plainville. Close and well known come first.
4 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
11 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
33 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
14 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney Stadium
26 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
28 mi Theme parkSix Flags New EnglandLake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plainville, 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 Plainville.
Plainville trades workers with Hartford and other neighbors, is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Connecticut.
That puts Plainville below Connecticut’s towns (14%) but above U.S. towns (4.3%). 18 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Norton Park, at 65 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. City of New Britain Public Watershed Lands | 3.8 mi | 131 |
| 2. Trumbull Park | 0.6 mi | 20 |
| 3. Tomasso Nature Park | 0.6 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Plainville School District. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Plainville High School, with 674 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle School of PlainvilleLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 535 | B− |
| Plainville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 674 | B |
| Louis Toffolon SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 365 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
The typical Plainville home is worth about $345,000, up 6.6% in a year, 23% below the Connecticut typical home. The median rent in Plainville is $1,126 a month.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Since 1979, 64 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Plainville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Plainville has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 19° and about 39 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 84% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
Plainville beats the Connecticut average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 18% of adults report frequent mental distress in Plainville.
| Plainville | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 33% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 31% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 8.8% | 14% |
| What stands out | Plainville | CT |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 12.8% | 10.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| More adults with depression | 23.8% | 20.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Plainville has about as many jobs (8,467) as working residents, but only 914 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Plainville for work: only 10% work in town. Plainville’s average trip to work is 21 minutes. Since 2013, Plainville has lost 671 jobs, to 8,467 in 2023.
| Plainville | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 11% | 16% | 11% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.5% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 20.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 72% of Connecticut’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 460 to 219 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
12 within 15 miles of the center of Plainville
About 6 of every 100 Plainville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
4 places in Plainville on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Plainville.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Plainville is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 17,525 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Plainville.
Farmington next door grades higher for schools (A to Plainville’s C+) and lower for cost of living (D to B−).
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainville | #87 | B | B− | B− | C+ | B |
| Bristol | #124 | C | D− | B+ | C+ | B+ |
| Farmington | #29 | A− | D | B− | A | A+ |
| New Britain | #149 | D− | D− | C− | D− | C− |
| Southington | #65 | B+ | C | B− | B+ | A |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Plainville grades B overall, better than 59% of U.S. towns and #87 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades B for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($95,118 across the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
4 notable people were born here, including Ted Christopher and Nick Pugliese.
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