Hartford, the state capital · Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0How Connecticut stacks up
Crime in Connecticut depends on the town: Weston and Plainfield rank among the safest places in the country, while 17% of residents live in towns like New Haven, Hartford and Waterbury at the other end. Only two states charge homeowners more in property tax: in Connecticut, the typical property-tax bill is $6,643. Connecticut ranks 17th overall, with a B+ and a score of 68.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
5th of 51A92/100 Safe overall, with a sharp divide. 28% of residents live in top-quarter towns like Weston and Plainfield, and 17% in bottom-quarter places such as New Haven and Hartford. The FBI’s 2025 estimate puts violent crime at 111 per 100,000 residents, the 2nd lowest rate of the 50 states and D.C.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 5th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 83 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 92% of residents of Connecticut’s 10,000+ towns.
Safe towns and high-crime cities in one state
Few states pair towns this safe with cities like these; New Hampshire and Rhode Island manage almost none of the latter. Orange lands in the high-crime quarter on property crime; its violent-crime rate is below the typical U.S. town’s. At the safe end sit Ridgefield (#22), Wolcott (#46) and Madison (#48) in the national ranking of towns of 10,000+.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Connecticut | 28% | 17% |
Where county or state police patrol
Town figures come from each police department’s own reports to the FBI, and a town needs enough of the last three years reported to count. That covers 92% of the people in Connecticut’s towns of 10,000+. One town, Montville, has too few years reported and sits out. In Mansfield, Newtown, Windham and twelve other places, county or state police answer the calls, so there is no town figure. Next door, coverage runs from 73% in New York to 96% in Massachusetts.
Schools
4th of 51A94/100 Strong schools overall, with a sharp divide. The gap between towns is wide: 42% of residents live in bottom-quarter places like Bridgeport. 36% of its 4th and 8th graders reach Proficient on the Nation’s Report Card, against 31% nationally (4th highest). Its standout is New Canaan, #4 in the country for schools.
In the class of 2023, 88.2% graduated on time, 14th highest; graduation counts as much as test results in the grade.
Spending: $25,892 per pupil, 5th highest. Shown for context, not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 98 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
46th of 51D10/100 Expensive by national standards. Taxes and prices disagree: 3rd highest tax bills, but home prices 24th lowest against income. Property-tax bills run $6,643 a year, the 3rd highest of the 50 states and D.C. Top-quarter towns are rare here; Monroe comes closest at #648.
Against income, home values rank 24th lowest: 3.8 times the median household’s.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 99 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
7th of 51A88/100 Good health overall. Connecticut ranks 9th lowest for adults in fair or poor health, at 16%. No neighbor beats it on health; Massachusetts comes closest. 41% of residents live in a top-quarter town; Darien ranks highest, at #13.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 98 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
12th of 51A−78/100 More owners in its towns than statewide. Only New Jersey puts more residents in the nation’s highest-ownership quarter of towns. 67% of homes are lived in by their owners, against 65% nationally (18th lowest). Town by town it does better than the statewide number.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 99 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
37th of 51C28/100 Natural hazards cost more here than in most states. Compared with $155 nationally, FEMA expects $141 a year in damage per $100,000 of buildings here. Fewer than one resident in 100 lives in a town in the national top quarter, led by Groton. New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island all do better on hazard risk.
Six federal major-disaster declarations since 2015, 16th fewest.
Behind the figure: inland flooding 76%, hurricane 16%, coastal flooding 3% of FEMA’s expected losses.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 99 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
42nd of 51C−18/100 Longer commutes than most states. The longest trips start in places like Bridgeport, in the national bottom quarter. The average trip to work takes 26.5 minutes. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Groton its best at #386 of 5,235.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 99 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
51st of 51D−0/100 Among the slowest-growing states. Even its best town, Stamford, ranks #1,645 of 5,079 nationally. Between 2010 and 2020 it grew 0.9%, the 4th slowest change among the states. New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island all do better on growth.
Builders took out permits for 2.0 homes per 1,000 residents in 2025, 7th fewest.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 21 Connecticut towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally. Covers 43% of residents of Connecticut’s 10,000+ towns.
How Connecticut compares to its neighbors
Next to New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, it comes out ahead on health and housing and behind on natural hazards and growth.
| Connecticut | New York | Massachusetts | Rhode Island | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B+ 6817th of 51 | C 3235th of 51 | B+ 7016th of 51 | B− 5225th of 51 |
| Safety | A 922nd official · 28% in top towns | B− 4635th official · 9% in top towns | B+ 7426th official · 29% in top towns | A+ 984th official · 37% in top towns |
| Schools | A 944th official · 35% in top towns | B+ 7427th official · 20% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 39% in top towns | B 5623rd official · 15% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D 1049th official · 2% in top towns | C− 1648th official · 5% in top towns | D 647th official · 1% in top towns | D− 243rd official · 0% in top towns |
| Health | A 889th official · 41% in top towns | B+ 6620th official · 22% in top towns | A 8610th official · 41% in top towns | B+ 7213th official · 22% in top towns |
| Housing | A− 7834th official · 30% in top towns | C+ 3650th official · 21% in top towns | B− 5047th official · 23% in top towns | C+ 4442nd official · 15% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | C 2830th official · <1% in top towns | A+ 964th official · 74% in top towns | A 869th official · 53% in top towns | A− 826th official · 32% in top towns |
| Commute | C− 1837th official · 6% in top towns | D 1251st official · 17% in top towns | D 847th official · 7% in top towns | C− 2428th official · 4% in top towns |
| Growth | D− 048th official · 0% in top towns | C− 2233rd official · 2% in top towns | C+ 4022nd official · 9% in top towns | C− 1832nd official · 2% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work