Here Are The Best Places To Live In CT: Niche Rankings

CONNECTICUT — Where's the best place to live in Connecticut? Someplace upscale, down on the Gold Coast? Or how about a town up in Windham County, where the pace is a little slower, the crime a little lower, and you can breathe? Do you need Ridgefield-level schools? Or is a Hartford-style nightlife more important to you?

Niche.com took all the most common concerns into consideration, crunched the numbers, and then ranked every municipality in the Nutmeg State. The result was a big win for West Hartford.

On Monday, Niche.com released the 2021 ranking of "Best Places to Live in Connecticut," drawn from up-to-date data from dozens of public sources including the Department of Education, FBI and U.S. Census to compile a comprehensive assessment of the overall livability of an area. The researchers also compile statistics throughout the year and take into account thousands of reviews.

Rankings are based on cost of living, higher education, housing, public schools, diversity, nightlife, crime and safety. Each community is then assigned a grade, on an A+-to-D- scale.

According to Niche.com, the pandemic has changed the way people live and work, with many "thinking hard about where they want to live if they no longer have a daily commute."

"In the past year, many people have become more mobile than ever before. Especially if they're able to work remotely, people are asking themselves where they really want to live," Luke Skurman, CEO and founder, said in a statement.

"Our rankings are designed to help our users find the next place they want to call home based on their unique priorities."

Here's the top 50 places to live in Connecticut in 2021, according to Niche.com:

1. West Hartford
2. Weatogue
3. Avon
4. Simsbury
5. Westport
6. Southport
7. Old Greenwich
8. Ridgefield
9. Farmington
10. Glastonbury
11. Greenwich
12. Fairfield
13. Woodbridge
14. Riverside
15. Cos Cob
16. Wilton
17. Orange
18. Cheshire
19. New Canaan
20. Glastonbury Center
21. Darien
22. Newfield
23. South Windsor
24. Madison
25. Rocky Hill
26. Weston
27. West Simsbury
28. Easton
29. Canton
30. Redding
31. Glenville
32. Guilford
33. Granby
34. Noank
35. East Granby
36. Collinsville
37. Trumbull
38. Mansfield
39. Hebron
40. Middlebury
41. East Lyme
42. Belltown
43. Mystic
44. Cromwell
45. Newtown
46. Westover
47. Wethersfield
48. South End
49. Marlborough
50. Downtown Hartford

If you didn't find your town on the list, it means Niche.com rated it below 50. The full list is available here.

You can read more about their process and methodology, and see where their data comes from on their website.