Waterbury, Connecticut

Area Profile

114,869 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Waterbury, in Naugatuck Valley Planning Region.

41out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 4% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity4,187th of 4,199 cities measured13
Schools3,497th of 4,162 cities measured23
GrowthTop 44% of 4,224 cities measured53
Housing affordability2,430th of 4,218 cities measured63
Climate3,273rd of 4,225 cities measured62
Physical resilience2,943rd of 4,226 cities measured38
Access2,967th of 4,226 cities measured86
Economic stability3,851st of 4,226 cities measured29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 8.9% and the Opportunity signal places Waterbury in the bottom 1%.

In the public schools here, 21% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.1 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 35% of renter income here, above the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.6 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
114,869
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,886
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
4,022/sq mi
28.6 sq mi of land
Median age
37.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
Nearest major airport
BDL
32 mi · Bradley Intl
Median home value
$208,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 8.9% — higher than in all but 1% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 4.2% over the past year, to 47,567 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsNaugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$65,89638th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftNaugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$69,92145th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,2782024 ACS 5-Year$51,886Bottom 26%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,6822024 ACS 5-Year$29,542Bottom 35%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year24.2%Bottom 16%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.9 minBottom 39%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year17.3%Bottom 41%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year69.8%28th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202647,567Bottom 46%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−5.3%Bottom 3%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−4.2%Bottom 2%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202652,21447th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.2%Bottom 34%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageWaterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$69,080Top 48%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageWaterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,440Top 48%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%94th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+2.4%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20268.9%Bottom 1%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%53rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/07114.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 8.9% 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

202120222023202452k49k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,886 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 — Waterbury-Shelton, CT

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides6,360$37,690
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,860$34,850
Cashiers3,450$35,100
Stockers and Order Fillers3,430$37,890
General and Operations Managers3,370$130,900
Retail Salespersons3,310$35,360

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.

21% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 35% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.1 students for every full-time teacher across 32 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
33
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.1
across 32 of them
Math proficiency
21.2%
Bottom 6% in Connecticut
Reading proficiency
34.5%
Bottom 12% in Connecticut
The 12 largest of 33 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Crosby High SchoolWaterbury School District1,45317.15%19%
John F. Kennedy High SchoolWaterbury School District1,39114.310%25%
Wilby High SchoolWaterbury School District1,19614.62%17%
Michael F. Wallace Middle SchoolWaterbury School District1,05911.513%29%
West Side Middle SchoolWaterbury School District84810.79%26%
W. F. Kaynor Technical High SchoolConnecticut Technical Education and Career System83111.722%52%
Waterbury Arts Magnet SchoolWaterbury School District82012.117%47%
North End Middle SchoolWaterbury School District7669.913%27%
Waterbury Career AcademyWaterbury School District70912.022%62%
Rotella Interdistrict Magnet SchoolWaterbury School District61416.254%67%
Wendell L. Cross SchoolWaterbury School District60613.842%47%
Maloney Interdistrict Magnet SchoolWaterbury School District59014.451%60%

77.3% 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 1% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 101.0, 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 Waterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area is up 55% over five years, and up 3.9% 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 $5,449 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.61% of the median home value.

The typical renter household here spends 35% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,225 a month.

A median home at $208,500 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,396, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
101.0

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 Waterbury-Shelton, 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
35.0%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Median gross rent
$1,225
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$208,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Waterbury’s median household income of $51,886, 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 Waterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area’s figure2023101.0Top 46%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Waterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.9%65th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Waterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+55.2%90th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Waterbury-Shelton, CT Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+94.6%52nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 45%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year47.2%7th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±9862024 ACS 5-Year49,95699th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$382024 ACS 5-Year$1,225Bottom 31%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,0842024 ACS 5-Year$208,50055th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1782024 ACS 5-Year$5,44991st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,5452024 ACS 5-Year$79,396Top 49%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year2.61%98th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year35.0%Bottom 20%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1452024 ACS 5-Year20194th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%55th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%56th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5272024 ACS 5-Year4,29399th 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

53/ 100
Top 44% 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 2% since 2020, reaching 115,908 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 22 units authorized in 2025, 46% below the prior year.

79% of the 116 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 Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, which contains Waterbury, gained 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 $65,896, below the $69,921 of households that moved out.

At 1.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
116
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.0
Bottom 26% nationally
Year over year
+222%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
79.3%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024116k114k
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
38%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$65,896
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$69,921
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Capitol Planning Region, CT 2,914 people · 15% of arrivals
  2. Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT 2,784 people · 15% of arrivals
  3. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 2,715 people · 14% of arrivals
  4. Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,990 people · 11% of arrivals
  5. Bronx County, NY 1,099 people · 5.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Capitol Planning Region, CT 3,216 people · 18% of departures
  2. South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT 2,326 people · 13% of departures
  3. Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT 1,309 people · 7.5% of departures
  4. Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT 1,003 people · 5.8% of departures
  5. Northwest Hills Planning Region, CT 1,001 people · 5.8% 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 Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420254115
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+10%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 44.9 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MERIDEN MARKHAM MUNI AP, 11.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals44.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

38 / 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 72% of it.

Inland floodingElevated
HurricaneElevated
Ice stormModerate
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

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
295
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,354
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.

Waterbury's police department reported 295 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,354.

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 Waterbury’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 Waterbury (Naugatuck Valley Planning Region) rather than Waterbury 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 32 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year85.3%Bottom 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle32 miBottom 25%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-Year10.5%Bottom 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bradley IntlBDL32 mi9,510 ft
Westfield-Barnes RgnlBAF45 mi9,000 ft
Westover ARB/MetroCEF51 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
41
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Other cities in Waterbury-Shelton, CT

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
BristolNaugatuck Valley Planning Region61,46249Bristol vs Waterbury
SheltonNaugatuck Valley Planning Region41,88955Shelton vs Waterbury
NaugatuckNaugatuck Valley Planning Region31,80052Naugatuck vs Waterbury
AnsoniaNaugatuck Valley Planning Region19,03344
DerbyNaugatuck Valley Planning Region12,48746

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 Waterbury side by side with a similar place.

Waterbury vs HartfordWaterbury vs Atlantic City

Moving to Waterbury 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. 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 Waterbury

6 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Waterbury 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 Waterbury 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
0670431,713$48,718$192,000—
0670829,594$67,364$218,50044
0670525,266$53,954$202,400—
0670615,551$52,242$210,700—
067109,942$37,191$228,300—
067022,946$14,474$286,100—