Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Shelton grades B+ overall, ranked 71st of 151 in Connecticut. It is healthier than 92% of U.S. towns. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 80% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $108K. The catch is cost: the typical home is worth about $562K, 6.2 years of the county’s $90K median household income. 20% of the land in Shelton is conserved, above both the Connecticut town median (14%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). On history, just 5 of Connecticut’s 175 towns do worse. Shelton Lakes Greenway, at 505 acres with 13.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Shelton beats most towns.
Its founding year, 1639, comes before those of 93% of the Connecticut towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 2,742 in 1790, a low of 1,301 in 1850, 40,869 in 2020. The archive holds 34 old photos and papers going back to 1898 and 6 maps from 1889 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Shelton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shelton. Close and well known come first.
9 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
26 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
21 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
23 mi MuseumGlass House
11 mi MuseumYale University Art Gallery
40 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank ArenaYale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Glass House: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Yale University Art Gallery: Ragesoss, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5
Who provides power, water and the rest in Shelton, 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 Shelton.
Shelton is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Connecticut; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Connecticut.
Within Connecticut it is healthier than 66% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
25% of Shelton adults have obesity, where Connecticut’s towns sit at 30% and U.S. towns at 35%. 18% of Shelton adults have been diagnosed with depression. Shelton beats the Connecticut average on 15 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Shelton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 30% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 22% | 23% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 8.9% | 9.4% | 12% |
| What stands out | Shelton | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.6% | 8.4% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.1% | 14.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Shelton School District. Three of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 714 | B+ |
| Shelton High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,308 | B+ |
| Booth Hill SchoolTop results in townGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 304 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Shelton’s trail density is 1.4 miles per square mile. 45 miles of trail in 47 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shelton Lakes Greenway | 13.7 mi | 505 |
| 2. Indian Well State Park | 3.3 mi | 164 |
| 3. Birchbank Mountain Open Space | 3.3 mi | 152 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 8.2 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 66% of Connecticut’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 14 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
The property crime rate in Shelton is 6.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Shelton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.5 per 1,000 residents | 9.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.4 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
At 6.2 years of the county’s $90K median household income, the typical home (about $562K) costs more against local pay than in 81% of Connecticut towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living.
Typical home values rose 4.8% in the year to September 2026.
| Shelton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,741 a month | $1,448 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 77% | 81% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Shelton has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 19° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Shelton for work: only 15% work in town. Jobs based in Shelton grew to 24,540 in 2023, 2,246 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Bridgeport (9%), Stratford (7%) and New York (6%).
| Shelton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 11% | 8% |
| Median household income | $108,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.6% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Adults 18 to 34 are 18% of residents (22% statewide). Shelton has grown 5% since 2020, to 42,880 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 42% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Shelton.
| Shelton | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 45% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 19% | 22% |
| Median age | 44.5 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.5 points). Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Shelton | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.3% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.7% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.7% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.8% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.4% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.5% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.7% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11.7% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.1% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.8% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.9% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.8% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
138 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 21 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 138 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Shelton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
9 within 15 miles of the center of Shelton
About 6 of every 100 Shelton residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
3 places in Shelton on the National Register of Historic Places.
8 notable people were born in Shelton.
City in Connecticut, United States
Shelton is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 40,869 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Shelton.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelton | #71 | B+ | D | A− | B− | A |
| Stratford | #116 | C+ | C− | B− | C− | A− |
| Oronoque | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Trumbull | #66 | B+ | D | C+ | A− | A+ |
| Monroe | #1 | A+ | B | A | A | A+ |
| Daniels Farm | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Derby | #142 | D | D− | C− | D | B+ |
| East Village | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Oronoque, Daniels Farm and East Village aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shelton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Shelton grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #71 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health, A− for safety and B− 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.
8 notable people were born here, including Peter Leo Gerety and Helen Barnes.
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