Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sprague grades C− overall, 131st of 151 graded towns in Connecticut, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It has 12 miles of trail. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Only 16 of Connecticut’s 175 towns score higher on cost of living. Sprague has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Ashlawn and William Park House. Among 155 Connecticut towns, just 2 have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Sprague.
Where Sprague beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Where Sprague’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Sprague is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 3,463 in 1870, a low of 1,106 in 1890, 2,967 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1790 and 5 maps from 1892 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sprague. Close and well known come first.
Big draw31 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
10 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
38 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
32 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
39 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
29 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sprague, 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 Sprague.
Sprague sends most of its workers to Norwich and beyond and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Connecticut.
Its public schools are run by the Sprague School District. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayles SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 254 | C− |
| Academy of the Holy Family PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 38 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests
No town among the 154 in Connecticut we compare has a higher FEMA risk score than Sprague. Since 1979, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sprague.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Sprague has 362 jobs for its 1,348 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Sprague for work: only 4% work in town. At 30 minutes, Sprague’s average trip to work is where Connecticut’s towns sit at 27 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Since 2013, Sprague has added 53 jobs, to 362 in 2023.
| Sprague | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $93,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 8.1% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
13 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. At 0.9 miles per square mile, Sprague’s trail density is against 1.3 in Connecticut’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. The biggest place to walk is Sprague Land Preserve (Mukluk Section), 219 acres with 5 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sprague Land Preserve (Mukluk Section) | 5 mi | 219 |
| 2. Sprague Land Preserve (Watson Section) | 1.3 mi | 53 |
| 3. Salt Rock State Campground | 0.7 mi | 151 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Sprague has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 19° and about 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Sprague home is worth about $370,000, up 9.7% in a year, 17% below the Connecticut typical home. 67% of Sprague households own their home.
| Sprague | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 67% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,247 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 87% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
Sprague beats the Connecticut average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 18% of adults report frequent mental distress in Sprague. Only 5 of the 154 Connecticut towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Sprague.
| Sprague | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 15% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 22% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 25% |
| What stands out | Sprague | CT |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 7.5% | 5.6% |
| More smokers | 13.1% | 10.6% |
| More adults with depression | 24.8% | 20.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Sprague
About 1 of every 100 Sprague residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
3 places in Sprague on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Sprague is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The town was named after William Sprague III, who laid out the industrial section. The population was 2,967 at the 2020 census. Sprague includes three villages: Baltic, Hanover, and Versailles.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Sprague.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprague | #131 | C− | C+ | — | D | B |
| Lisbon | #104 | B− | C− | — | B− | B |
| Norwich | #145 | D | D | B− | D | C+ |
| Baltic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Franklin | — | — | B+ | — | B | A− |
| Scotland | — | — | B− | — | C | B+ |
Franklin and Scotland have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Sprague, Lisbon, Franklin and Scotland report no FBI crime data of their own. Baltic isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sprague with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sprague grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #131 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades B for health and D for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($86,586 across the Norwich-New London-Willimantic, 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 C+.
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