Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Sterling earns a D, 143rd among Connecticut's 151 graded towns, mostly because of schools. Its schools rank behind 85% of the state's. It also has a long history, with 2 places on the National Register. Sterling’s average trip to work is 35 minutes, above both the Connecticut town median (27 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 11 of Connecticut’s 174 towns score lower on health. Sterling's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 89% of U.S. towns.
Where Sterling beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,200 in 1820, 3,578 in 2020. The archive holds 20 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 6 maps from 1889 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Sterling is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sterling, 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 Sterling.
Sterling sends many workers across the state line to Johnston, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Its public schools are run by the Sterling School District. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Community SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 301 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests
33% of working residents cross a state line to work, Johnston among the top destinations. Sterling has 316 jobs for its 1,475 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Sterling for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Sterling fell to 316 in 2023, 91 fewer than in 2013. Sterling’s median household income is $103,000.
| Sterling | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $103,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6% | 11% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.3% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
15 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The trail density in Sterling is 0.5 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Moosup Valley State Park Trail, at 48 acres.
| Sterling | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 24% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 1.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Moosup Valley State Park Trail | 0.1 mi | 48 |
| 2. Ross Marsh Wildlife Area | — | 27 |
| 3. Neil H. Cook Memorial Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Sterling has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 19° and about 38 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sterling.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Sterling home is worth about $401,000, up 4.4% in a year, 10% below the Connecticut typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 8,186 U.S. towns with household incomes like Sterling’s, it is less healthy than 83%, so it trails even them.
16% of adults smoke cigarettes in Sterling. Only 6 of the 154 Connecticut towns we compare have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Sterling. 28% of adults get no exercise outside work in Sterling.
| Sterling | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 12% | 14% |
| What stands out | Sterling | CT |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.4% | 9.8% |
| More smokers | 15.7% | 10.6% |
| More adults with COPD | 7.5% | 5.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sterling. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
Big draw39 mi Stadium & arenaGillette Stadium
Big draw31 mi MuseumThe Breakers
25 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
34 mi MuseumUSS Massachusetts
31 mi MuseumMarble HouseLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Gillette Stadium: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · USS Massachusetts: USN, Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain
None within 15 miles of Sterling; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Sterling residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
Where Sterling’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
2 places in Sterling on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Sterling.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Sterling is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 3,578 at the 2020 census. The rural town is home to two villages: Oneco (named for Oneco, Sachem of the Mohegans) and Sterling village. Each contains a post office, a church, and a fire station. The town hall and public library are located in Oneco, and the town's one public school is in Sterling village.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Sterling.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling | #143 | D | C | — | C− | C+ |
| Plainfield | #103 | B− | C+ | A+ | C | B− |
| Voluntown | #110 | C+ | C+ | — | B | B+ |
Sterling and Voluntown report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Sterling with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Sterling grades D overall, better than 8% of U.S. towns and #143 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades C+ for health and C− for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 4.4 years of the area's median household income ($90,589 across the Putnam, CT 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.
3 notable people were born here, including Charles Dow and Donald Clifford Gallup.
_underway_c1944.jpg){kind=link}
