New Britain, Connecticut

Area Profile

74,223 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for New Britain, in Capitol Planning Region.

40out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 3% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity4,164th of 4,199 cities measured18
Schools3,870th of 4,162 cities measured15
Growth3,965th of 4,224 cities measured21
Housing affordabilityTop 46% of 4,218 cities measured68
Climate2,971st of 4,225 cities measured63
Physical resilience2,706th of 4,226 cities measured45
AccessTop 44% of 4,226 cities measured94
Economic stability3,344th of 4,226 cities measured40
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 8.3% and the Opportunity signal places New Britain in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 13% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 21 units authorized over the past twelve months, 90% below the prior year.

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
74,223
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,613
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
5,541/sq mi
13.4 sq mi of land
Median age
34.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Connecticut
Nearest major airport
BDL
19 mi · Bradley Intl
Median home value
$223,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 8.3% — higher than in all but 2% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 4.0% over the past year, to 34,790 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsCapitol Planning Region, CT’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$74,92654th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftCapitol Planning Region, CT’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$83,80169th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,3032024 ACS 5-Year$58,613Bottom 37%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,5552024 ACS 5-Year$31,171Bottom 41%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.9%Bottom 27%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.1 minTop 31%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.6%Bottom 48%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year72.6%35th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202634,790Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−3.0%Bottom 13%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−4.0%Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202637,95140th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year79.4%Top 46%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageHartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$76,720Top 26%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageHartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$59,940Top 20%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%93rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+2.1%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20268.3%Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.0%52nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/07113.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 8.3% 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

202120222023202459k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,613 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 — Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides19,230$39,620
Retail Salespersons14,380$35,720
Registered Nurses13,850$101,470
Stockers and Order Fillers13,530$40,730
General and Operations Managers13,370$148,080
Fast Food and Counter Workers12,370$35,030

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.

13% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 25% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.7 students for every full-time teacher across 16 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
13.0%
Bottom 1% in Connecticut
Reading proficiency
25.1%
Bottom 1% in Connecticut
The 12 largest of 16 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
New Britain High SchoolNew Britain School District2,52116.313%29%
Pulaski Middle SchoolNew Britain School District83913.15%15%
DiLoreto Elementary & Middle SchoolNew Britain School District81915.89%20%
Slade Middle SchoolNew Britain School District78113.94%14%
Academy of Science and InnovationCapitol Region Education Council76710.825%46%
E. C. Goodwin Technical High SchoolConnecticut Technical Education and Career System69010.88%22%
Smalley Elementary SchoolNew Britain School District59412.94%8%
Lincoln Elementary SchoolNew Britain School District55213.511%22%
Smith Elementary SchoolNew Britain School District46113.219%18%
Gaffney Elementary SchoolNew Britain School District43814.612%22%
Vance Elementary SchoolNew Britain School District43814.611%20%
Holmes Elementary SchoolNew Britain School District41412.519%33%

72.9% 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 3% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 103.3, 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area is up 58% over five years, and up 5.8% 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 $5,846 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.61% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,543, some 23% above the $1,253 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,543 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $61,700 a year, about 105% of the median household income here of $58,613.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,253 a month.

A median home at $223,600 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $86,995, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
103.3

Prices here run about 3% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, 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
32.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,543
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,253
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$223,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against New Britain’s median household income of $58,613, 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 Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area’s figure2023103.3Bottom 38%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+5.8%87th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+57.7%93rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+88.4%44th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 47%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year45.1%6th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7582024 ACS 5-Year32,06598th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,224Top 39%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,851Top 36%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,543Top 43%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$452024 ACS 5-Year$1,253Bottom 29%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,1332024 ACS 5-Year$223,60059th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1542024 ACS 5-Year$5,84693rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,2922024 ACS 5-Year$86,995Top 40%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year2.61%98th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.5%Bottom 29%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±862024 ACS 5-Year13591st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%56th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year9.2%61st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4292024 ACS 5-Year3,09199th percentileof 32,3302024 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

21/ 100
Ranks 3,965 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 4% since 2020, reaching 75,871 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 4 units authorized in 2025, 98% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 75,871 residents in 2024, up 1.3% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 21 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Capitol Planning Region, which contains New Britain, lost 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 $74,926, below the $83,801 of households that moved out.

At 0.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
21
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
−90%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202476k73k
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
62%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$74,926
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$83,801
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT 3,216 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 2,229 people · 7.8% of arrivals
  3. Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT 1,847 people · 6.5% of arrivals
  4. Hampden County, MA 1,800 people · 6.3% of arrivals
  5. Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,224 people · 4.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT 2,914 people · 9.5% of departures
  2. Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT 2,046 people · 6.7% of departures
  3. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,719 people · 5.6% of departures
  4. Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,363 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. Hampden County, MA 1,231 people · 4.0% 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. This is the figure for Capitol Planning Region, CT. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420252462.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−67%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 20°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 42.8 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HARTFORD BRAINARD FLD, 8.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals42.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals20°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and cold wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 80% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Inland floodingElevated
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HurricaneModerate
TornadoModerate
LandslideModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
424
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,703
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

New Britain's police department reported 424 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,703.

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by New Britain’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around New Britain (Capitol Planning Region) rather than New Britain itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

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.

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

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Bradley Intl at 19 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year85.0%Bottom 31%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle19 miBottom 47%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle8Top 7%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.6%Bottom 40%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bradley IntlBDL19 mi9,510 ft
Westfield-Barnes RgnlBAF33 mi9,000 ft
Westover ARB/MetroCEF38 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
40
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Other cities in Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
HartfordCapitol Planning Region121,12742Hartford vs New Britain
West HartfordCapitol Planning Region63,62058West Hartford vs New Britain
East HartfordCapitol Planning Region50,91846East Hartford vs New Britain
MiddletownLower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region47,95851
ManchesterCapitol Planning Region36,75949
NewingtonCapitol Planning Region30,89658
WethersfieldCapitol Planning Region27,25056
StorrsCapitol Planning Region15,207—
Windsor LocksCapitol Planning Region12,57950

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put New Britain side by side with a similar place.

New Britain vs PleasantvilleNew Britain vs New Haven

Moving to New Britain from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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
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. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
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 October 8, 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 codes in New Britain

3 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in New Britain with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track New Britain closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
0605336,774$62,645$220,800—
0605129,548$51,022$211,50038
060527,916$80,506$260,00042