Most Miserable Places to Live in Connecticut List: Where Does Groton Rank?

By BRIAN MCCREADY (Patch Staff)

What has Connecticut ever done to RoadSnacks?

RoadSnacks, the data site that says it uses science to put together their widely read lists, first gave us a town-by-town list of Ashley Madison cheaters in the Nutmeg state, then they compiled the most boring places to live, followed by the snobbiest places, and even a list of the most “redneck” places to live in Connecticut.

They even compiled the drunkest places to live list in Connecticut.

And now they’re back with their latest list, “The 10 Most Miserable Cities in Connecticut,” and they ended up analyzing 101 cities altogether.

Related stories: Do You Live in the Most Boring Town in Connecticut?

• The 10 Snobbiest Places to Live in Connecticut: Report
• 10 Drunkest Places to Live in Connecticut: Report
• The 10 Most ‘Redneck’ Cities In Connecticut: Report

Once again, they claim their rankings are based on science and data. The authors note an October 2015 Harris poll claims just one-third of Americans are truly happy.

Before unveiling its list of most miserable places, RoadSnacks says, “if you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.”

After analyzing the largest cities, RoadSnacks presents the most miserable cities in Connecticut:

1. Bridgeport
2. Hartford
3. Windham
4. East Hartford
5. Waterbury
6. New Britain
7. New Haven
8. Killingly
9. Willimantic
10. Bristol

How Groton Ranked

Groton was ranked No. 42 overall on the list, while Conning Towers Nautilus Park, a census-designated place within Groton, ranked at No. 31.

Bridgeport ranked No. 1 on the list and Weston No. 101, meaning Weston is considered the happiest place to live.

So how did they come up with their rankings?

RoadSnacks used:

• FBI crime data
• Labor statistics
• Social media
• Percentage of residents with a college degree
• Length of one’s commute
• Cost of living
• Percentage of married couples
• Number of sunny days

The authors say Bridgeport was a runaway winner as the most miserable place to live because of its high crime rate and 10.2-percent unemployment rate.

“People who live here are broke, and not many are married,” the report states.

Hartford made the list because it is the poorest city in the state and is the second-most dangerous behind New Haven, RoadSnacks found.

Waterbury has the second-highest unemployment rate and just 40 percent of residents are married.

New Haven’s crime rate is the highest in the state and in 2013, there were 76 murders, RoadSnacks wrote. Additionally, 9 percent of residents don’t have a job and just 30 percent are married.

Read the full RoadSnacks report here.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below. Did RoadSnacks get it right with this latest list?

Photo: Winter Sunset at Bluff Point State Park in Groton by kestrana, via Flickr Creative Commons