Best Suburbs to Raise A Family? In Connecticut, Most are in Fairfield County

Connecticut’s top 20 suburbs to raise a family are led by the Fairfield County communities of Darien, Weston, New Canaan, Westport, and Wilton, taking the first five slots.  Rounding out the top 10 were Simsbury, Cheshire, Glastonbury, Madison, and Easton, according to the website Niche.  Also reaching the top 20 were Monroe, Avon, Farmington, Middlebury, Canton, Brookfield, Fairfield, Trumbull, Granby and Orange. Niche ranks U.S. suburbs based on age demographics, school ratings, crime rates, and access to affordable housing, child care, libraries, and grocery stores. A high ranking indicates that a suburb "attracts young families with good schools and a safe community.

In the New Haven area, the top 10 suburbs to raise a family are Cheshire, Madison, Monroe, Middlebury, Orange, Guilford, Woodbridge, Wolcott, North Branford, and Branford, according to the rankings.  In the Hartford area, the top 10 area Simsbury, Glastonbury, Avon, Farmington, Canton, , Rocky Hill, Old Saybrook, Suffield, Cromwell, South Windsor, Newington and Southington.

In addition to being the top-ranked suburb in Connecticut, Darien ranked #17 in the nation, followed closely on the national list by Weston at #20, the only suburban communities in Connecticut to reach the top 50.  New Canaan was #51 in the U.S. and Westport was #59, the only other towns from Connecticut reaching the top 100.

In determining the rankings, factors receiving a weight of 20 percent included crime & safety,  and education, weighted at 10 percent were access to libraries, “involvement and investment in the community,” housing, residents between 35 and 44, and the percentage of residents under age 9.  The final two categories used in the calculation, access to day care and access to grocery stores, were weighted at 5 percent.

Founded in 2002 by Carnegie Mellon University students as CollegeProwler.com, Niche is described as having grown into one of the largest content startups in the country, providing students, families, and professionals with “insight into big life decisions.”  The Hartford area  list included Longmeadow, MA and Old Saybrook, communities that most residents would not consider as part of the Greater Hartford region.  The company is based in Pittsburgh.