Top 100 Best Places to Raise A Family in CT: New Report

CONNECTICUT, CT — "Doing what's right for my family" is the reason many Connecticut residents give for moving to the Nutmeg State, and those numbers are on the rise.

Last year, Connecticut took in approximately 57,000 new residents due to migration from other states, according to census data released in October.

The schools, the shoreline, the wild spaces and the seasons all help burnish the state's luster, even if the taxes can make Connecticut life somewhat challenging.

But there are degrees of goodness, and education website Niche has parsed the metrics to determine what burg ranks where on a list of 2023 Best Places to Raise a Family in Connecticut.

Niche analysts judged Connecticut neighborhoods on their schools, housing, jobs, weather, crime rate and seven other "quality of life" yardsticks, giving each a traditional "report card" of academic-type grades.

Four of the top five best places to raise a family in Connecticut are in Greenwich, according to Niche, so maybe money really can buy happiness — or at least a happy childhood. Riverside in Greenwich ranked No. 1 overall.

Here is the Niche "report card" for Riverside:

• Public Schools: A+
• Crime & Safety: unavailable
• Housing: C+
• Nightlife: B-
• Good for Families: A+
• Diversity: B
• Jobs: B
• Weather: C+
• Cost of Living: C
• Health & Fitness: A+
• Outdoor Activities: A
• Commute: B+

Six of the Top 10 Niche neighborhoods are in Fairfield County, with the remainder in Hartford County.

If you want to see why your neighborhood received the score it did, please click on the town name in the list below for more information from Niche. If your town/neighborhood didn't make the top 100, click here to search for its score from Niche.

Here's the Top 100 statewide:

1. Riverside, A+
2. Old Greenwich, A+
3. Weatogue, A+
4. Glenville, A+
5. Cos Cob, A+
6. West Hartford, A+
7. Glastonbury Center, A+
8. West Simsbury, A+
9. Southport, A+
10. Weston, A
11. Greenwich, A
12. Avon, A+
13. Collinsville, A
14. Newfield, A+
15. Ridgefield, A
16. Higganum, A
17. Westport, A
18. Wilton, A
19. Easton, A
20. Noank, A+
21. Farmington, A+
22. Orange, A+
23. Byram, A
24. Glastonbury, A
25. Simsbury, A
26. Darien, A
27. Mystic, A+
28. Mansfield Center, A
29. New Canaan, A
30. Pemberwick, A-
31. Fairfield, A
32. Tariffville, A
33. North Stamford, A
34. Redding, A
35. Belltown, A
36. Cheshire, A
37. East Granby, A
38. North Granby, A-
39. Milford City, A
40. Niantic, A
41. Madison, A
42. Woodbridge, A
43. Old Mystic, A
44. Monroe, A-
45. Bethany, B+
46. South End, A
47. Georgetown, A-
48. Granby, A-
49. Woodmont, A
50. Wethersfield, A
51. Old Lyme, A-
52. Burlington, A-
53. Shippan, A
54. Washington, A-
55. Westover, A
56. Long Hill, A
57. South Windsor, A
58. Westville, A
59. Southbury, A-
60. Essex, A-
61. Glenbrook, A
62. Haddam, A-
63. Trumbull, A-
64. Middlebury, A-
65. Salem, A-
66. South Coventry, A-
67. Marlborough, B+
68. Kensington, A-
69. Bridgewater, B+
70. Guilford, A-
71. Downtown, A+
72. East Lyme, A-
73. Turn of River, A-
74. Newtown, A-
75. Canton, A-
76. Saybrook Manor, A-
77. North Haven, A
78. Springdale, A-
79. Newington, A
80. Salmon Brook, B+
81. North Stonington, B+
82. Crystal Lake, A-
83. Lyme, B+
84. Coventry Lake, A-
85. Roxbury, B
86. Prospect Hill, A
87. Durham, B+
88. Killingworth, A-
89. Hebron, A-
90. Brookfield, A-
91. Tolland, A-
92. Rocky Hill, A-
93. East Rock, A
94. Stamford, A-
95. Bolton, A-
96. Pawcatuck, B+
97. Harwinton, B
98. Ellington, A-
99. Andover, B+
100. New Hartford, B