Census-designated place · Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut

Stepney, Connecticut

Stepney is a census-designated place in Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut, part of the Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT metro area. It has 3,979 residents. Stepney, Connecticut has a quality-of-life score of 86 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,206 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Connecticut it ranks #57 of 160 cities and towns. It ranks best on poverty rate (low), broadband subscriptions (high) and distance to an Amtrak station (low). It ranks worst on high ozone days (high), child care cost burden (high) and effective property tax rate (high).

86Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,206 of 15,651 cities and towns
Connecticut: #57 of 160 in CT
Population: 3,979 (2020-2024)
Land area: 7 mi²
Density: 592.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 0973280

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.

Safety85#2,381/15,637
Economy85#2,342/15,631
Housing15#12,660/14,977
Health98#388/15,609
Healthcare93#1,071/15,650
Environment29#10,960/15,453
Education87#1,982/15,649
Infrastructure97#400/15,650
Community67#5,226/15,651
Leisure & amenities60#6,278/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Stepney, Connecticut ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Greater Bridgeport 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

Poverty rate · low0.8%
99/100Connecticut 10.1%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Broadband subscriptions · high100.0%
99/100Connecticut 92.2%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Distance to an Amtrak station · low4 mi
99/100Connecticut 8 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauGreater Bridgeport Planning Region value
Poor or fair health · low9.5%
99/100Connecticut 15.9%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Adult obesity · low22.2%
98/100Connecticut 30.7%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Adult smoking · low6.9%
97/100Connecticut 11.3%United States 16.1%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate

Weaknesses

High ozone days · high15 days
4/100Connecticut 10 daysUnited States 7 days2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)Greater Bridgeport Planning Region value
Child care cost burden · high41.4%
5/100Connecticut 39.8%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)Greater Bridgeport Planning Region value
Effective property tax rate · high2.11%
6/100Connecticut 1.54%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Days with unhealthy air · high5.8%
7/100Connecticut 3.5%2025U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyEstimated from related areas or data (see the source notes)Greater Bridgeport Planning Region value
Rent as share of income · high43.6%
20/100Connecticut 31.4%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Natural hazard risk · high78.5
20/100Connecticut 69.12025Federal Emergency Management AgencyGreater Bridgeport Planning Region value

Trends

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

Broadband subscriptionsImproving
89.3% (2016-2020) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+11 pts4 yearsCensus table B28002US 85.2% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
44.6% (2016-2020) → 54.2% (2020-2024)
+9.6 pts4 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.9% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$112,976 (2016-2020) → $153,966 (2020-2024)
+36%4 yearsCensus table B19013US $67,340 → $81,604
Child poverty rateImproving
5.9% (2016-2020) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−5.9 pts4 yearsCensus table B17001US 15.7% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
57.8% (2016-2020) → 63.2% (2020-2024)
+5.4 pts4 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.1% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
5.5% (2016-2020) → 0.8% (2020-2024)
−4.7 pts4 yearsCensus table B17001US 11.9% → 12.1%

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.

There is not enough history to compare Stepney, Connecticut over five years.

Cities and towns like Stepney, Connecticut five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Stepney, 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.

No place that looked like Stepney, Connecticut five years ago has more measures that improved than declined, with a higher standing among its peers today.

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

3,979 residents (±547)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

3,979 residents (±547)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

White75%2,968
Black0.7%†27
Hispanic or Latino11%445

Education

2,867 residents (±413)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

No high school diploma2.2%†64
High school or GED17%†490
Some college17%†484

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

1,574 households (±229)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Under $25k3.1%†48
$25k–50k11%†176
$50k–75k5.1%†81
$75k–100k5.7%†90
$100k–150k20%†317
$150k–200k20%†309
$200k or more35%553

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,574 households (±229)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Own96%1,517
Rent3.6%†57

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

57 households (±55)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Under $7500.0%0
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,5000.0%0
$1,500–2,000

Home values

1,517 homes (±213)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Under $150k1.4%†21
$150k–250k6.1%†93
$250k–400k26%†398

Age of homes

1,591 homes (±229)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

2010 or later0.9%†14
2000–20096.8%†108
1980–199950%791

Size of homes

1,591 homes (±229)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Studio2.1%†33
1 bedroom8.9%†141
2 bedrooms20%†324

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,273 workers (±371)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Drive alone81%1,852
Carpool3.4%†77
Public transit3.0%†69
Walk1.4%†32
Bike0.0%0
Work from home9.8%†222
Other0.9%†21

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

2,051 workers (±388)

Stepney, Connecticut
Connecticut share

Under 15 min9.6%†196
15–29 min39%†807
30–44 min23%†477

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, 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 Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, the county holding most of Stepney's residents.

Greater Bridgeport Planning Region has 6,941 employer establishments, 209 for every 10,000 residents (0.84× the US rate of 248; 0.85× Connecticut's), with 107,114 paid employees at an average annual pay of $61,734. The Census Bureau also counts 32,778 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,941; 32,778 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 209; US 248 · Connecticut 245
Paid employees: 107,114
Average annual pay: $61,734; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	749	22.6	1.08×About typical	9,408	$72,969	1,916
Restaurants and other eating places	607	18.3	1.00×About typical	8,268	$26,695	223
Specialty trade contractors	435	13.1	0.85×About typical	3,123	$75,614	2,388
Offices of physicians	315	9.5	1.46×More than typical	3,489	$100,777	252
Full-service restaurants	251	7.6	0.98×About typical	3,965	$30,774	98
Limited-service restaurants	249	7.5	0.93×About typical	3,250	$23,041	95
Services to buildings and dwellings	245	7.4	1.09×About typical	3,645	$34,681	1,686
Lessors of real estate	230	6.9	0.56×Fewer than typical	820	$69,639	3,388
Legal services	209	6.3	1.17×About typical	1,078	$127,642	321
Building equipment contractors	204	6.1	1.02×About typical	1,416	$82,732	379
Personal care services	181	5.5	1.14×About typical	990	$28,792	1,142
Schools, colleges and instruction	157	4.7	1.35×More than typical	9,083	$36,673	1,164

Rank places for an industry Open Greater Bridgeport Planning Region

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 332,081 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 $151.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Stepney, Connecticut: $38.00 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $151.2K; −66% vs FY2025
Per resident: $38.00; US $1,994
Sole-source: 92%; US 30%
Single offer: 4.1%; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

28.3KFY2021
198.7KFY2022
28.9KFY2023
96.4KFY2024
443KFY2025
151.2KFY2026

What was bought

Other equipment & supplies$125.6K83%

Top industries (NAICS)

Architectural and structural metals manufacturing · 3323$139.6K92%
Ship and boat building · 3366$6,2674.1%
Electric lighting equipment manufacturing · 3351$3,0832.0%
Electrical equipment manufacturing · 3353$2,2151.5%

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 Stepney, Connecticut, so they do not add up across cities.

Stepney, Connecticut's figures are part of those of Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT ($3B in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Stepney is mostly in Greater Bridgeport Planning Region.

See federal money in Greater Bridgeport 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.

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