Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The everyday basics are strong; the price of a home is the catch. Its strongest is health: residents are healthier than 91% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Taken together, its subjects give Stonington an A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 47th of 151 in Connecticut. What holds it back is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $483K, 5.6 years of the Norwich metro’s $87K median household income. Its National Register listings include Charles W. Morgan and SABINO (steamer). History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 19 places on the National Register.
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Stonington beats most towns.
SABINO (steamer) is one of 6 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 3,036 in 1820, 18,335 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1676 and 7 maps from 1889 on.
19 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Stonington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Stonington. Close and well known come first.
Big draw33 mi MuseumThe Breakers
13 mi Stadium & arenaMohegan Sun Arena
33 mi Ancient siteHMS Endeavour
in town MuseumMystic Seaport
32 mi MuseumMarble House
32 mi MuseumThe ElmsThe Breakers: UpstateNYer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mohegan Sun Arena: Bbjeter, CC BY-SA 3.0 · HMS Endeavour: Samuel Atkins (c.1760-1810), Public domain · Mystic Seaport: Joethon, Public domain · Marble House: [email protected], Public domain · The Elms: The original uploader was Daderot at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Stonington, 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 Stonington.
Stonington trades workers with Groton and other neighbors and has less food insecurity than most of Connecticut, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
Its widest gap with Connecticut is food insecurity: 7.1% of its 6,243 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.9% statewide. Within Connecticut it is healthier than 59% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
Across all 32 CDC measures, Stonington beats Connecticut on 17 and trails on 4. Among 154 Connecticut towns, just 6 have a higher share of adults who have high blood pressure than Stonington. The share of adults in Stonington who report frequent mental distress is 14%, below both Connecticut’s towns (15%) and U.S. towns (17%). In Stonington, 28% of adults feel lonely.
| Stonington | Typical Connecticut town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 31% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 84% | 81% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 17% |
| What stands out | Stonington | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.1% | 14.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5% | 10% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.8% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $483K.
The largest public high school is Stonington High School, with 543 students. The Stonington School District runs its public schools. Two of its 6 schools are shown below, with the reason for each.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deans Mill SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 429 | A |
| Stonington High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 543 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Stonington brings chilly winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 24° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
For Stonington, the trail network density is put at 0.8 miles per square mile, against 1.3 in Connecticut’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Count the trails in 58 parks and preserves and they come to 38 miles. The biggest place to walk is Barn Island Wildlife Management Area, 1,030 acres with 13.8 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Barn Island Wildlife Management Area | 13.8 mi | 1,030 |
| 2. Hoffman Evergreen Preserve | 3.7 mi | 196 |
| 3. Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center | 2.4 mi | 90 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Stonington has about as many jobs (7,004) as working residents, but only 1,472 people both live and work here.
Stonington: 18% of workers do their job from home. It had 7,004 jobs in 2024, up 823 from 2014. In Stonington, the middle household income is $115,000. Half of commuters travel less than 11 miles.
| Stonington | Typical Connecticut town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 20% | 11% | 7.9% |
| Work from home | 18% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $115,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2024 · ACS
On the market in Stonington: a median 56 days to sell. 37% of renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent in the town. In Stonington, the median rent is $1,446 a month.
| Stonington | Typical Connecticut town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 37% | 50% | 48% |
| Households that own their home | 73% | 81% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,446 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
222 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 16 properties have flooded more than once.
FEMA puts 57% of Stonington’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 29% to hurricanes. All told, 222 flood insurance claims have been paid in the town since 1978. For Stonington, the FEMA hazard score is 50 of 100.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
4 within 15 miles of the center of Stonington
About 3 of every 100 Stonington residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
19 places in Stonington on the National Register of Historic Places.
14 notable people were born in Stonington.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and Wequetequock, and the eastern halves of the villages of Mystic and Old Mystic. Stonington is part of the Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region. The population of the town was 18,335 at the 2020 census. The town is home to many restored homes and preserves its long nautical history.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Stonington.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonington | #47 | A− | D | — | A− | A |
| Ledyard | #67 | B+ | D | A | B− | A |
| Groton | #97 | B− | D | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Old Mystic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pawcatuck | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| North Stonington | #28 | A− | C | — | A | A− |
| Mystic | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Noank | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Stonington and North Stonington report no FBI crime data of their own. Old Mystic, Pawcatuck, Mystic and Noank aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Stonington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Stonington grades A− overall, better than 77% of U.S. towns and #47 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $483,000, 8% above the Connecticut typical home.
14 notable people were born here, including Nathaniel Palmer and Edmund Fanning.
