Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT

County Profile

279,971 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT.

55out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 35% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 11 sources
Opportunity1,197th of 1,463 counties measured38
Growth828th of 1,453 counties measured46
Housing affordability861st of 1,462 counties measured72
Climate838th of 1,463 counties measured65
Physical resilience857th of 1,463 counties measured52
Access733rd of 1,463 counties measured81
Economic stabilityTop 28% of 1,463 counties measured75
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region in the bottom 18%.

Rent takes 31% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times what its owners earn.

A typical July reaches 80°F and a typical January falls to 23°F, on thirty-year normals.

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
279,971
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$86,586
Top 12% nationally
Density
468/sq mi
598.1 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region
Connecticut
Nearest major airport
PVD
38 mi · Rhode Island TF Green Intl
Median home value
$323,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.5% — higher than in all but 12% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 4.2% over the past year, to 133,778 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 86% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $86,586 is higher than in 88% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$67,31569th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$69,82476th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,9372024 ACS 5-Year$86,586Top 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$8102024 ACS 5-Year$47,133Top 10%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year10.5%Top 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.7 minTop 50%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year35.8%Top 14%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year75.5%36th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026133,778Top 18%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−2.6%Bottom 19%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−4.2%Bottom 4%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026141,60482nd percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year81.2%Top 21%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year1.4%91st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+1.3%Bottom 2%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.5%Bottom 12%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%74th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.62.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.5% 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

20222023202487k80k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $86,586 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 — Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons3,580$35,740
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,220$34,800
Home Health and Personal Care Aides2,920$39,570
Cashiers2,820$35,010
Waiters and Waitresses2,620$37,880
Registered Nurses2,460$101,330

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.

43% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.4 students for every full-time teacher across 86 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
86
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
43.4%
2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency
55.8%
2018-19 school year
The 12 largest of 86 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Norwich Free AcademyNorwich Free Academy District2,02014.935%59%
Robert E. Fitch High SchoolGroton School District94211.240%64%
East Lyme High SchoolEast Lyme School District89010.054%79%
Groton Middle SchoolGroton School District88411.8——
Ledyard High SchoolLedyard School District73111.642%67%
East Lyme Middle SchoolEast Lyme School District71611.762%74%
Waterford High SchoolWaterford School District71311.150%71%
Ella T. Grasso Technical High SchoolConnecticut Technical Education and Career System68411.812%27%
Griswold Elementary SchoolGriswold School District65514.955%48%
Norwich Technical High SchoolConnecticut Technical Education and Career System64911.417%42%
Windham High SchoolWindham School District6339.917%32%
Griswold High SchoolGriswold School District60611.727%57%

50.4% 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 1% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 100.7, 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 Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT Metro Area is up 61% over five years, and up 6.4% 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 $5,228 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.62% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,365 a month.

A median home at $323,400 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $111,365, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
100.7

Prices here run about 1% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Norwich-New London-Willimantic, 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
30.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,365
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$323,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region’s median household income of $86,586, 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 Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT Metro Area’s figure2023100.7Bottom 24%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.4%94th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+60.9%98th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+107.0%72nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 32%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year65.1%15th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1102024 ACS 5-Year126,42592nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$262024 ACS 5-Year$1,365Bottom 11%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,5592024 ACS 5-Year$323,40084th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1092024 ACS 5-Year$5,22897th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,3022024 ACS 5-Year$111,365Top 8%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.62%93rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year30.5%Bottom 24%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±4712024 ACS 5-Year3,39790th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.7%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%23rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8972024 ACS 5-Year10,65791st 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

46/ 100
Ranks 828 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 282,602 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 422 units authorized in 2025, 13% below the prior year.

Federal tax returns show Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region gained about 0.3% 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 $67,315, close to the $69,824 of households that moved out.

At 2.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
624
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.2
Bottom 40% nationally
Year over year
+22%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
51.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024283k278k
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
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
67%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$67,315
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$69,824
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Capitol Planning Region, CT 1,363 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT 792 people · 6.9% of arrivals
  3. Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT 727 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  4. Washington County, RI 576 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  5. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 448 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Capitol Planning Region, CT 1,224 people · 11% of departures
  2. Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT 727 people · 6.6% of departures
  3. Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT 656 people · 6.0% of departures
  4. Washington County, RI 362 people · 3.3% of departures
  5. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 256 people · 2.3% 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

202320242025487331
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2023 (+27%).

Weather & climate

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

Normal annual precipitation is 39.3 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station GROTON NEW LONDON AP, 11.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals39.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals80°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

52 / 100
Physical resilience

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

HurricaneElevated
Inland floodingModerate
EarthquakeModerate
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate
Coastal floodingModerate

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

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Rhode Island TF Green Intl at 38 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year91.6%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle38 miBottom 45%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year6.3%Top 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD38 mi8,700 ft
Bradley IntlBDL43 mi9,510 ft
Westover ARB/MetroCEF54 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
55
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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.

Cities in Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT

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.