Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT
County Profile
627,071 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 11 sourcesEmployment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 5.0% and the Opportunity signal places Western Connecticut Planning Region in the bottom 27%.
2,254 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 8% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.
Rent takes 32% of renter income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, while buying strains owner incomes less — the median home is 3.9 times what its owners earn, against a historic benchmark near three.
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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 5.0% — higher than in all but 21% of the 1,467 measured US counties.
Employment fell 4.2% over the past year, to 323,073 employed residents.
56% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US counties.
Median household income of $128,188 is higher than in 99% of measured US counties.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023 | $185,658 | 99th percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023 | $152,622 | 99th percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$2,3702024 ACS 5-Year | $128,188 | Top 1%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,4002024 ACS 5-Year | $82,266 | Top 1%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Poverty rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.4% | Top 10%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 32.6 min | Bottom 13%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year | 55.5% | Top 2%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 59.3% | 3rd percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 323,073 | Top 8%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | −3.9% | Bottom 12%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | −4.2% | Bottom 5%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 340,132 | 93rd percentileof 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year | 83.7% | Top 11%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.0% | 99th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | +1.3% | Bottom 2%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 5.0% | Bottom 21%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year | 21.5% | 97th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Retail Salespersons | 12,230 | $37,330 |
| General and Operations Managers | 11,140 | $137,230 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 10,850 | $38,110 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 8,660 | $36,550 |
| Registered Nurses | 8,370 | $105,660 |
| Cashiers | 8,210 | $36,420 |
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.
58% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 12.3 students for every full-time teacher across 146 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danbury High School | Danbury School District | 3,612 | 15.7 | 22% | 52% |
| Greenwich High School | Greenwich School District | 2,620 | 13.4 | 66% | 83% |
| Westhill High School | Stamford School District | 2,224 | 14.4 | 37% | 54% |
| Stamford High School | Stamford School District | 2,102 | 14.1 | 37% | 56% |
| Brien McMahon High School | Norwalk School District | 1,739 | 14.7 | 30% | 49% |
| Staples High School | Westport School District | 1,629 | 10.7 | 79% | 93% |
| Norwalk High School | Norwalk School District | 1,494 | 14.2 | 31% | 51% |
| Ridgefield High School | Ridgefield School District | 1,411 | 11.5 | 81% | 93% |
| Darien High School | Darien School District | 1,382 | 10.8 | 86% | 92% |
| Saxe Middle School | New Canaan School District | 1,271 | 10.9 | 87% | 90% |
| New Canaan High School | New Canaan School District | 1,257 | 12.3 | 81% | 94% |
| Newtown High School | Newtown School District | 1,254 | 11.6 | 71% | 86% |
32.6% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 107.0, 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 Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metro Area is up 53% over five years, and up 5.1% 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 $9,295 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.42% 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 $2,110 a month.
A median home at $652,900 costs 3.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $168,617, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.
Prices here run about 7% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, 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.
The figures above are measured against Western Connecticut Planning Region’s median household income of $128,188, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metro Area’s figure2023 | 107.0 | Bottom 9%of 887 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +5.1% | 75th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +53.3% | 83rd percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +84.2% | 33rd percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year | 3.9 | Bottom 13%of 3,218 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year | 66.4% | 19th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±1402024 ACS 5-Year | 251,530 | 96th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median gross rent ±$342024 ACS 5-Year | $2,110 | Bottom 1%of 3,216 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$8,5282024 ACS 5-Year | $652,900 | 98th percentileof 3,219 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$982024 ACS 5-Year | $9,295 | 99th percentileof 3,172 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$3,7902024 ACS 5-Year | $168,617 | Top 1%of 3,218 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.02%2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.42% | 87th percentileof 3,126 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year | 31.5% | Bottom 17%of 3,217 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±5502024 ACS 5-Year | 4,123 | 92nd percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.6% | 37th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 4.8% | 14th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±1,0822024 ACS 5-Year | 16,151 | 95th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 3% since 2020, reaching 637,013 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 2,769 units authorized in 2025, up 141% on the prior year.
76% of the 2,254 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 Western Connecticut Planning Region lost about 0.6% 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 $185,658, above the $152,622 of households that moved out.
At 3.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Westchester County, NY 3,499 people · 15% of arrivals
- New York County, NY 2,394 people · 10% of arrivals
- Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT 1,830 people · 7.9% of arrivals
- Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT 1,003 people · 4.3% of arrivals
- Bronx County, NY 950 people · 4.1% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT 3,109 people · 12% of departures
- Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT 1,990 people · 7.5% of departures
- New York County, NY 1,941 people · 7.3% of departures
- Westchester County, NY 1,475 people · 5.6% of departures
- South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,072 people · 4.1% 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
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 18°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 48.0 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 48.0" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 18°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 82°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 5 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 45°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 71% of it.
Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, ice storm, winter weather, heat wave, lightning, tornado, cold wave, drought, wildfire, hail, avalanche, volcanic activity, tsunami.
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
6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest New York Stewart Intl at 37 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 94.7% | Top 3%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 37 mi | Bottom 47%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 6 | Top 13%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year | 3.7% | Top 4%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Stewart Intl | SWF | 37 mi | 11,817 ft |
| John F Kennedy Intl | JFK | 47 mi | 14,511 ft |
| Newark Liberty Intl | EWR | 55 mi | 9,999 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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Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyData & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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 Western 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.