Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Vernon grades B− overall, 100th among Connecticut's 151 graded towns, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Residents are healthier than 79% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it has 31 miles of trail. On the other side, FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 77% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. 19% of the land in Vernon is conserved, above both Connecticut’s towns (14%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). On civic life, just 10 of Connecticut’s 174 towns do worse. Vernon has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Saxony Mill and Talcottville Historic District.
Where Vernon beats most towns.
Census counts: 827 in 1810, 30,215 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1835 and 7 maps from 1892 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Connecticut), ordered by how far Vernon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vernon. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi LakeLake Chaubunagungamaug
20 mi National Historic SiteSpringfield Armory National Historic Site14K visitors a year
12 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
10 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney Stadium
16 mi Theme parkSix Flags New England
28 mi Theme parkLake CompounceLake Chaubunagungamaug: Bree from Worcester, MA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Springfield Armory National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0 · Six Flags New England: Canadaolympic989, Public domain · Lake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vernon, 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 Vernon.
Vernon costs less than Coventry or any other town next door, is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Connecticut.
At 1.7 miles per square mile, Vernon’s trail density is above both the Connecticut town median (1.3) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4). The biggest place to walk is Belding Wildlife Management Area, 745 acres with 7.6 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Belding Wildlife Management Area | 7.6 mi | 745 |
| 2. Valley Falls Park | 3.7 mi | 191 |
| 3. Rambling Ridge Open Space | 2.8 mi | 107 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Vernon School District. Three of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon Center Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 651 | C+ |
| Rockville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 995 | C+ |
| Lake Street SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 235 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 72% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar.
15% of Vernon adults binge drink. Vernon beats the Connecticut average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 11% of Vernon adults smoke cigarettes.
| Vernon | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 9.7% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 30% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 19% |
| What stands out | Vernon | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 8.6% | 10% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Vernon for work: only 10% work in town. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Vernon. Since 2013, Vernon has lost 1,059 jobs, to 7,405 in 2023.
| Vernon | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 5.8% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 13% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Only 7 of the 154 Connecticut towns we compare have a higher FEMA risk score than Vernon. Since 1978, 27 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Vernon.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Coventry is next at $402K.
The typical Vernon home is worth about $345,000, up 4.1% in a year, 23% below the Connecticut typical home.
| Vernon | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 53% | 81% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 39% | 50% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,425 a month | $1,451 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
At 12.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 54% of Connecticut’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 416 to 327 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Vernon’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Vernon | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.4 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.2 per 1,000 residents | 9.6 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Vernon has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 18° and about 52 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Vernon is 39.4 years. Vernon has grown 2.1% since 2020, to 30,842 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Vernon | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 17% | 19% | 22% |
| Median age | 39.4 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 38% | 45% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1.5 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women. Median age: women 44.2, men 36.1.
| Vernon | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.8% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.1% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.4% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.8% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.1% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.5% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.2% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.2% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.4% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.3% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.1% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.6% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.3% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
10 within 15 miles of the center of Vernon
About 8 of every 100 Vernon residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Connecticut.
18.9% of the town is conserved land, across 35 parks and preserves.
6 places in Vernon on the National Register of Historic Places.
6 notable people were born in Vernon.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Vernon ( VER-nin) is the most populous town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 30,215 at the 2020 census. Vernon contains the smaller villages of Talcottville and Dobsonville, as well as the former City of Rockville.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Vernon.
Ellington next door grades higher for schools (B+ to Vernon’s C) and lower for cost of living (D to C).
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon | #100 | B− | C | B+ | C | A− |
| Bolton | #22 | A | C | — | B+ | A |
| Tolland | #56 | B+ | C− | — | B+ | A+ |
| Ellington | #59 | B+ | D | — | B+ | A |
| Rockville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Manchester | #127 | C | C | C+ | D | B+ |
| South Windsor | #34 | A− | C− | B | A− | A+ |
| Coventry | #15 | A | C+ | A | B+ | A |
Bolton, Tolland and Ellington report no FBI crime data of their own. Rockville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Vernon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Vernon grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #100 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A− for health, B+ for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 3.6 years of the area's median household income ($95,118 across the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, 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.
6 notable people were born here, including Russell Trall and Eliza Talcott.
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