Census-designated place · South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut

East Haven, Connecticut

East Haven is a census-designated place in South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, part of the New Haven, CT metro area. It has 27,806 residents. East Haven, Connecticut has a quality-of-life score of 63 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,851 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Connecticut it ranks #124 of 160 cities and towns. It ranks best on distance to an Amtrak station (low), distance to an airport (low) and public EV charging ports (high). It ranks worst on child care cost burden (high), high ozone days (high) and drug overdose deaths (high).

63High

Quality-of-life score: #5,851 of 15,651 cities and towns
Connecticut: #124 of 160 in CT
Population: 27,806 (2020-2024)
Land area: 12 mi²
Density: 2,261.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 0922980

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety58#6,629/15,637
Economy69#4,852/15,631
Housing14#12,870/14,977
Health68#5,029/15,609
Healthcare70#4,743/15,650
Environment26#11,358/15,453
Education50#7,846/15,649
Infrastructure95#826/15,650
Community44#8,734/15,651
Leisure & amenities88#1,797/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where East Haven, Connecticut ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “South Central Connecticut Planning Region value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Distance to an Amtrak station · low3 mi
99/100Connecticut 8 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Distance to an airport · low8 mi
96/100Connecticut 18 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauSouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Public EV charging ports · high18.5 /10k
94/100Connecticut 13.4 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergySouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Mental health providers · high606 /100k
93/100Connecticut 514 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Firearm deaths · low4.0 /100k
92/100Connecticut 4.5 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)Model-based estimateProvisional dataSouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Child poverty rate · low6.5%
88/100Connecticut 13.0%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001

Weaknesses

Child care cost burden · high48.2%
1/100Connecticut 39.8%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)South Central Connecticut Planning Region value
High ozone days · high12 days
5/100Connecticut 10 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)South Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Drug overdose deaths · high29.0 /100k
11/100Connecticut 20.7 /100kUnited States 18.4 /100kMar 2025–Feb 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)Provisional dataSouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Days with unhealthy air · high3.6%
11/100Connecticut 3.5%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)South Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Time spent in the emergency room · high220 min
12/100Connecticut 190 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSouth Central Connecticut Planning Region value
Effective property tax rate · high1.74%
13/100Connecticut 1.54%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Child poverty rateImproving
16.3% (2015-2019) → 6.5% (2020-2024)
−9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$67,390 (2015-2019) → $94,628 (2020-2024)
+40%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
87.2% (2015-2019) → 94.8% (2020-2024)
+7.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
31.8% (2015-2019) → 35.6% (2020-2024)
+3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
55.3% (2015-2019) → 58.9% (2020-2024)
+3.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
6.5% (2015-2019) → 8.6% (2020-2024)
+2 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, East Haven, Connecticut improved on 4 of 15 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved4

Property tax−0.5 points2.20% → 1.74%
Child poverty−9.8 points16.3% → 6.5%
Household income+40%$67,390 → $94,628
Broadband+7.7 points87.2% → 94.8%

Declined1

Transit use−1.6 points3.1% → 1.5%

All 15 measures

Change of every measure of East Haven, Connecticut between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	23.9 min2015-2019	24.1 min2020-2024	+0.2 min	Within the margin of error	45%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.0%2015-2019	25.8%2020-2024	+1.9 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Broadband subscriptions	87.2%2015-2019	94.8%2020-2024	+7.7 points	Improved	47%
Child poverty rate	16.3%2015-2019	6.5%2020-2024	−9.8 points	Improved	81%
Effective property tax rate	2.20%2015-2019	1.74%2020-2024	−0.5 points	Improved	88%
High school diploma or higher	90.8%2015-2019	91.6%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Home price to income ratio	3.2×2015-2019	3.1×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	81%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4122015-2019	0.3912020-2024	−0.021	Within the margin of error	68%
Median household income	$67,3902015-2019	$94,6282020-2024	+40%	Improved	74%
Poverty rate	8.9%2015-2019	7.2%2020-2024	−1.7 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Public transit commuters	3.1%2015-2019	1.5%2020-2024	−1.6 points	Declined	15%
Rent as share of income	31.8%2015-2019	35.6%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	28%
Rent-burdened households	55.3%2015-2019	58.9%2020-2024	+3.6 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Unemployment rate	6.5%2015-2019	4.9%2020-2024	−1.5 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	6.5%2015-2019	8.6%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	25%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like East Haven, Connecticut five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of East Haven, Connecticut in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, East Haven, Connecticut itself moved +2.4 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

27,806 residents (±31)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

11,394 households (±434)

East Haven, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Under $25k11%1,219
$25k–50k14%1,620
$50k–75k15%1,723

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

11,394 households (±434)

East Haven, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Own75%8,499
Rent25%2,895

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

14,549 workers (±644)

East Haven, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Drive alone81%11,793
Carpool4.6%†668
Public transit1.5%†214

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the New Haven, CT

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of South Central Connecticut Planning Region, the county holding most of East Haven's residents.

South Central Connecticut Planning Region has 13,779 employer establishments, 241 for every 10,000 residents (0.97× the US rate of 248; 0.98× Connecticut's), with 263,675 paid employees at an average annual pay of $65,048. The Census Bureau also counts 50,322 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 13,779; 50,322 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 241; US 248 · Connecticut 245
Paid employees: 263,675
Average annual pay: $65,048; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of South Central Connecticut Planning Region by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,361	23.8	1.14×About typical	30,227	$76,033	3,166
Restaurants and other eating places	1,259	22	1.20×About typical	17,914	$24,754	295
Specialty trade contractors	863	15.1	0.97×About typical	6,773	$79,697	2,858
Full-service restaurants	566	9.9	1.29×More than typical	9,297	$28,014	104
Limited-service restaurants	494	8.6	1.08×About typical	6,097	$21,544	135
Offices of physicians	456	8	1.23×About typical	16,193	$89,698	687
Lessors of real estate	421	7.4	0.60×Fewer than typical	2,376	$52,178	5,746
Building equipment contractors	400	7	1.16×About typical	3,395	$83,267	622
Personal care services	400	7	1.46×More than typical	2,031	$27,972	1,826
Services to buildings and dwellings	376	6.6	0.97×About typical	4,935	$34,910	2,019
Legal services	368	6.4	1.20×About typical	2,199	$104,506	607
Offices of other health practitioners	331	5.8	0.95×About typical	1,881	$45,644	1,654

Rank places for an industry Open South Central Connecticut Planning Region

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 572,366 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $1M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in East Haven, Connecticut: $36.53 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1M; −77% vs FY2025
Per resident: $36.53; US $1,994
Sole-source: 16%; US 30%
Single offer: 3.5%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Defense Logistics Agency$333.2K33%
Federal Acquisition Service$251.8K25%
U.S. Coast Guard$188.1K19%
Department of the Army$160.3K16%
Department of the Air Force$60.4K5.9%
Federal Prison System / Bureau of Prisons$30.8K3.0%
National Aeronautics and Space Administration$30.3K3.0%
Department of Energy$2000.0%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

842.1KFY2017
59.9KFY2018
1.6MFY2019
276KFY2020
94.4KFY2021
44KFY2022
630.1KFY2023
377.7KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other textile product mills · 3149$304.3K30%
Plastics product manufacturing · 3261$230.1K23%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$104.7K10%
Investigation and security services · 5616$81.8K8.1%
Aerospace product and parts manufacturing · 3364$68.5K6.7%
Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$64K

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in East Haven, Connecticut

REPAIR PAVEMENT AND LIFT STATION, USCG SECTOR LONG ISLAND SOUND, 120 WOODWARD AVENUE, NEW HAVEN, CT (NEW HAVEN COUNTY)$1.2M
ENFIELD ENTERPRISES LLC· South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT· Construction & real property· Jun 14, 2017 – Oct 15, 2025· HSCGG117JPRV154
SECURITY SYSTEM INSTALL$104.8K
SOUND SAFE SECURITY LLC· South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT· Equipment maintenance· May 26, 2026 – May 26, 2026· 70Z05226PCCOD0076
JANITORIAL SERVICES, ANSONIA AND HAMDEN, CT, LOCATIONS$104.4K
SANFORD FEDERAL, INC.· South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT· Facilities & utilities· Sep 28, 2021 – Feb 27, 2026· 12444821P0156

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in East Haven, Connecticut, so they do not add up across cities.

East Haven, Connecticut's figures are part of those of South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT ($198.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.5% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: East Haven is mostly in South Central Connecticut Planning Region.

See federal money in South Central Connecticut Planning Region

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

East Haven, Connecticut is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

South Central Connecticut Planning Region74100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

New Haven, CT78

Other cities and towns in South Central Connecticut Planning Region

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0922980

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends