The Top 100 Places To Live In Connecticut: New Rankings

CONNECTICUT — Rankings website Niche.com has just published its 2024 ratings for Connecticut municipalities, and West Hartford continues to dominate the rankings.

The Hartford suburb garnered an overall "A+" grade, and earned top marks for its public schools, family friendliness, and the health/fitness of its residents. It was also No. 1 on the list of the best suburbs, and best suburbs for young professionals in the state. Notably, it ranked No. 100 in a field of 6,822 suburbs nationwide, according to Niche.com.

It's the second year that Niche has broken out its ratings neighborhood-by-neighborhood, giving the town of Greenwich three top 10 entries: Old Greenwich (No. 4), Cos Cob (No. 7) and Riverside (No. 9).

In its nationwide analysis, Niche analyzed more than 18,000 places to compile this year’s ranking. Categories weighed included the health of the local housing market, public school system, job market, neighborhood diversity, crime, family-friendliness and walkability, among others.

Niche derives its rankings from federal and local government datasets, including the US Census Bureau, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and its own proprietary data and community reviews from each area. The full methodology is broken down here.

These are the 2024 Best Places to Live in Connecticut, according to Niche.com:

1. West Hartford (No. 1 in Best Suburbs to Live in Connecticut, No. 1 in Best Suburbs for Young Professionals in Connecticut)
2. Weatogue (No. 1 in Best Places to Buy a House in Connecticut, No. 1 in Best Suburbs to Buy a House in Connecticut)
3. Glastonbury Center
4. Old Greenwich (No. 1 in Best Places to Raise a Family in Connecticut, No. 1 in Best Suburbs to Raise a Family in Connecticut)
5. Avon
6. Simsbury
7. Cos Cob
8. Westport (No. 1 in Places with the Best Public Schools in Connecticut, No. 1 in Suburbs with the Best Public Schools in Connecticut)
9. Riverside
10. Glastonbury
11. Farmington
12. Newfield
13. Wilton
14. Greenwich
15. Noank
16. Glenville
17. Ridgefield
18. South Windsor
19. Fairfield
20. Mystic
21. West Simsbury
22. Madison
23. Cheshire
24. Orange
25. Downtown New Haven
26. Higganum
27. Mansfield Center
28. Pemberwick
29. Wethersfield
30. Southport
31. Darien
32. Long Hill
33. Redding
34. Woodbridge
35. Weston
36. Middlebury
37. New Canaan
38. Milford City
39. Belltown
40. Granby
41. Woodmont
42. Guilford
43. Westville
44. Collinsville
45. North Haven
46. Newington
47. Byram
48. Rocky Hill
49. New Preston
50. South End
51. Westover
52. East Granby
53. Newtown
54. South Coventry
55. Trumbull
56. Springdale
57. North Stamford
58. Cromwell
59. Brookfield
60. Shelton
61. East Lyme
62. Old Mystic
63. Portland
64. Windsor
65. Downtown Hartford
66. Hebron
67. Salem
68. Canton
69. Milford
70. Waterford
71. Monroe
72. Niantic
73. Glenbrook
74. Tariffville
75. Shippan
76. Groton
77. East Rock
78. Coventry
79. Washington
80. Salmon Brook
81. Southbury
82. Tolland
83. Stonington
84. Essex
85. Stamford
86. Middletown
87. Georgetown
88. Turn of River
89. Norwalk
90. Marlborough
91. Kensington
92. Bethel
93. Prospect Hill
94. Old Lyme
95. Ellington
96. Southington
97. Haddam
98. Suffield
99. Easton
100. Wooster Square/Mill River

New Haven neighborhood Long Wharf once again is the state's ratings cellar-dweller, occupying the ignominious bottom bullet point of Niche's list of best Connecticut places. South Meadows, North Meadows, Canaan and Sterling round out the bottom five.