How Does Stratford Stack Up Against Similar Communities?

Connecticut Magazine has come out with its annual “Rating the Towns” list. The ratings, published in its November issue, group the state’s many communities by median home value, ranking towns that have similar resources.

The magazine explains that in the past, when they rated towns by population, a city like Bridgeport was being measured against a town like Greenwich, which in reality are two very different communities.

Towns were ranked on the following categories:

• Education
• Civic Engagement
• Economy
• Crime
• Leisure and Culture

Click here for a breakdown of how the magazine established the rankings for each category.

Now, how did Stratford fare when compared to similar towns? For starters, the town is grouped with communities where the median home value is $200,000 to $250,000 with that value being $232,200 for Stratford. A total of 46 towns made it into this category.

Here’s how Stratford was ranked in the following categories:

• Leisure and Culture: 4
• Economy: 46
• Crime: 45
• Community Engagement: 46
• Education: 45

The magazine notes, “This grouping has the largest number of towns—46—in our ratings, which means that a low rank in one category can skew a town’s overall score. For instance, East Granby finishes No. 1 in economy and No. 10 in education, two areas very important to many home buyers, but because of its comparative lack of in-town cultural and leisure activities, falls overall to the middle of the pack.”

Click here to read more about the rankings.