South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT

County Profile

570,598 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 22% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 11 sources
Opportunity1,226th of 1,463 counties measured36
Growth1,200th of 1,453 counties measured32
Housing affordability990th of 1,462 counties measured69
Climate845th of 1,463 counties measured65
Physical resilience977th of 1,463 counties measured47
Access852nd of 1,463 counties measured77
Economic stabilityTop 25% of 1,463 counties measured77
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.9% and the Opportunity signal places South Central Connecticut Planning Region in the bottom 16%.

783 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 9% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 32% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
570,598
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$88,197
Top 11% nationally
Density
1,554/sq mi
367.3 sq mi of land
Median age
40.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
South Central Connecticut Planning Region
Connecticut
Metro area
Nearest major airport
BDL
46 mi · Bradley Intl
Median home value
$353,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.9% — higher than in all but 8% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 4.0% over the past year, to 285,826 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 93% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $88,197 is higher than in 89% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$74,90878th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$83,73789th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,6922024 ACS 5-Year$88,197Top 11%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7452024 ACS 5-Year$49,766Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year10.5%Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.2 minTop 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year42.0%Top 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year69.4%13th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026285,826Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−4.5%Bottom 9%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−4.0%Bottom 6%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026303,89892nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year82.4%Top 16%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year3.0%97th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+1.4%Bottom 1%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.9%Bottom 8%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year14.3%85th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.22.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.9% in July 2026. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

20222023202488k84k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $88,197 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — New Haven, CT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses10,050$104,490
Stockers and Order Fillers9,430$43,840
Home Health and Personal Care Aides7,370$39,720
Retail Salespersons6,810$35,950
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners6,210$37,890
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,900$35,290

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

40% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.2 students for every full-time teacher across 147 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
150
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.2
across 147 of them
Math proficiency
39.6%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
52.9%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 150 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
West Haven High SchoolWest Haven School District1,81315.617%46%
Wilbur Cross High SchoolNew Haven School District1,74213.79%30%
Hamden High SchoolHamden School District1,60913.533%55%
Amity Regional High SchoolRegional School District 051,34711.163%81%
Francis T. Maloney High SchoolMeriden School District1,29116.314%40%
Orville H. Platt High SchoolMeriden School District1,19117.510%38%
James Hillhouse High SchoolNew Haven School District1,12413.43%17%
Amistad Academy · charterAmistad Academy District1,10510.847%55%
Guilford High SchoolGuilford School District1,00811.968%85%
North Haven High SchoolNorth Haven School District94411.138%66%
Lyman Hall High SchoolWallingford School District93610.539%70%
Harry M. Bailey Middle SchoolWest Haven School District88510.139%47%

51.3% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Connecticut’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 5% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 105.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the New Haven, CT Metro Area is up 55% over five years, and up 6.0% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $6,759 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.91% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,525 a month.

A median home at $353,100 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $122,844, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
105.4

Prices here run about 5% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the New Haven, CT Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,525
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$353,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against South Central Connecticut Planning Region’s median household income of $88,197, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe New Haven, CT Metro Area’s figure2023105.4Bottom 12%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the New Haven, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.0%88th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the New Haven, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+54.9%86th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the New Haven, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+91.2%46th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 33%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year60.5%7th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1872024 ACS 5-Year248,26796th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$242024 ACS 5-Year$1,525Bottom 7%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,8432024 ACS 5-Year$353,10088th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$622024 ACS 5-Year$6,75999th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,5432024 ACS 5-Year$122,844Top 5%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year1.91%97th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year31.9%Bottom 15%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4902024 ACS 5-Year3,61391st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%34th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%22nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,1702024 ACS 5-Year17,59496th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

32/ 100
Ranks 1,200 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 2 years of a series running from 2023 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 2% since 2020, reaching 576,718 in 2024.

67% of the 783 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show South Central Connecticut Planning Region lost about 0.4% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $74,908, below the $83,737 of households that moved out.

At 1.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
783
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.4
Bottom 25% nationally
Year over year
−9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
67.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024577k565k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
56%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$74,908
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$83,737
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT 2,326 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT 2,248 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Capitol Planning Region, CT 1,719 people · 8.6% of arrivals
  4. Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT 1,100 people · 5.5% of arrivals
  5. Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,072 people · 5.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT 2,715 people · 13% of departures
  2. Capitol Planning Region, CT 2,229 people · 10% of departures
  3. Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT 1,574 people · 7.3% of departures
  4. Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT 1,273 people · 5.9% of departures
  5. Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT 720 people · 3.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2023202420251k927
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2023 (−34%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.8 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEW HAVEN TWEED AP, 3.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

47 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and coastal flooding, with inland flooding alone responsible for 62% of it.

HurricaneElevated
Inland floodingModerate
Ice stormModerate
Coastal floodingElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, winter weather, strong wind, tornado, cold wave, wildfire, hail, drought, volcanic activity, tsunami, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, and no county figure could be attached to this page.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Bradley Intl at 46 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year92.4%Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle46 miBottom 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle7Top 5%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%Top 13%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bradley IntlBDL46 mi9,510 ft
Westfield-Barnes RgnlBAF60 mi9,000 ft
Westover ARB/MetroCEF64 mi11,597 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
51
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated September 26, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.