Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Watertown grades B+ overall, 75th among Connecticut's 151 graded towns. The median household earns $102K. Residents are healthier than 88% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The catch is cost: homes are expensive, about $334K for a typical one and 3.9 times the Waterbury metro’s $86K median household income. 18% of the land in Watertown is conserved, against 14% in Connecticut’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 17 of Connecticut’s 174 towns do worse. The biggest place to walk is Mattatuck State Forest, 1,204 acres with 15.1 miles of trail.
Where Watertown beats most towns.
Census counts: 1,439 in 1820, 22,105 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 6 maps from 1893 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 Watertown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Watertown. Close and well known come first.
10 mi Theme parkLake Compounce
23 mi Stadium & arenaYale Bowl
25 mi Stadium & arenaPeoplesBank Arena
20 mi LakeCandlewood Lake
7 mi Theme parkHoly Land USA
27 mi Stadium & arenaPratt & Whitney StadiumLake Compounce: Wildcat1 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Yale Bowl: Kenneth Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · PeoplesBank Arena: PeoplesBank Arena, CC BY 2.5 · Candlewood Lake: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Holy Land USA: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Pratt & Whitney Stadium: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Watertown, 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 Watertown.
Watertown is safe by national standards but not by Connecticut’s and is healthy by national standards but mid-pack in Connecticut.
Within Connecticut it is less healthy than 54% of the 154 graded towns: Connecticut sets a high bar. Its widest gap with Connecticut is food insecurity: 8.9% of its 10,755 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.9% statewide.
27% of Watertown adults have obesity, where Connecticut’s towns sit at 30% and U.S. towns at 35%. 32% of Watertown adults sleep under 7 hours. Watertown beats the Connecticut average on 6 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Watertown | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 30% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 36% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 31% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 33% | 35% |
| What stands out | Watertown | CT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.9% | 14.9% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.1% | 10% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.5% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Watertown School District. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Trumbull Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 610 | – |
| Watertown High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 693 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CT on state tests and graduation
34 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. Watertown’s trail density is 1.2 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mattatuck State Forest | 15.1 mi | 1,204 |
| 2. Black Rock State Park | 6 mi | 456 |
| 3. Veterans' Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 89 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Watertown has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Watertown is 83°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 13.5 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 51% of Connecticut’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave Watertown for work: only 16% work in town. Since 2013, Watertown has added 724 jobs, to 8,717 in 2023. The top destinations are Waterbury (16%), Hartford (4%) and New York (3%).
| Watertown | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 11% | 8% |
| Work from home | 10% | 16% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $102,000 | $109,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 23% of residents (19% statewide). 39% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Watertown.
| Watertown | Connecticut towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 46.3 years | 44.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 39% | 45% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Connecticut, 50.9% of residents are women.
| Watertown | CT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.3% | 10.4% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.5% | 9.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 9.3% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 12.7% | 12.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.3% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14% | 12.5% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15% | 14.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 13.2% | 10.7% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 10.2% | 7.8% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 8.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 26.8% | 25.3% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.7% | 16.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.2% | 7.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21.1% | 23.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.5% | 19.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 65 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Watertown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Watertown
About 4 of every 100 Watertown residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Connecticut.
3 places in Watertown on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Watertown.
Town in Connecticut, United States
Watertown is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The population was 22,105 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Waterbury. The urban center of the town is the Watertown census-designated place, with a population of 3,938 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Watertown.
| Town | CT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watertown | #75 | B+ | C− | B | C+ | A |
| Thomaston | #30 | A− | C+ | A | B− | A |
| Waterbury | #150 | D− | D | C− | D | D |
| Oakville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Woodbury | #102 | B− | D | — | B | A |
| Bethlehem | #74 | B+ | C− | — | B | A |
| Middlebury | #10 | A | C | A | B+ | A |
| Morris | — | — | C | — | — | A |
Morris has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Woodbury, Bethlehem and Morris report no FBI crime data of their own. Oakville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Watertown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Watertown grades B+ overall, better than 65% of U.S. towns and #75 of 151 in Connecticut. It grades A for health, B for safety and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $334,000, 25% below the Connecticut typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
12 notable people were born here, including Benjamin B. Hotchkiss and Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne.
_-_2025.svg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}