The 10 Most Miserable Cities in Connecticut


We used science and data to determine which people in CT are the unhappiest of all.

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Do you live in one of the most miserable places in Connecticut?

According to a Harris Poll taken in October of 2015, only a third of Americans say they are truly happy. That’s too bad, considering that Americans – especially folks in Connecticut – don’t really have it too bad, in the grand scheme of things.

But, we were curious – which Connecticut cities might be the most miserable? We’re about to find out, using science and data.

After analyzing the largest cities, we sadly present the most miserable cities in the Constitution State:

  1. Bridgeport (Photos)
  2. Westbrook Center
  3. Hartford (Photos)
  4. Jewett City
  5. New Haven (Photos)
  6. Waterbury (Photos)
  7. Rockville (Photos)
  8. Stafford Springs
  9. New London (Photos)
  10. New Milford (Photos)

Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.

Oh, and by the way, Weatogue is the happiest place in Connecticut.

Or check out the Most Miserable Cities In America.

If you’re looking for something more positive, check out the best states in America or the best places to live in America.

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How We Measured The Most Miserable Cities In Connecticut

In order to rank the unhappiest places in Connecticut, we had to determine what criteria makes people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress free, and have a stable home life.

So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2010-2014 report for the criteria, flipped the list, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:

  • Percentage of residents with a college degree
  • Average commute times
  • Unemployment rates
  • Cost of living
  • % of married couples
  • % of home owners
  • Poverty rate

After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 108 places in Connecticut with over 2,000 people.

We then ranked each place from one to 98 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the most miserable (Any ties were given to the larger place).

Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Miserable Index for each place with the lowest overall Miserable Index ‘earning’ the title ‘Most Miserable City In Connecticut’.

If you’d like to see the complete list of states, most miserable to happiest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.

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1. Bridgeport

Bridgeport, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 146,680
People Who Own Their Home: 35.65%
Married Adults: 33.49%

2. Westbrook Center

Westbrook Center, Connecticut

Source: Google Maps

Population: 2,182
People Who Own Their Home: 44.13%
Married Adults: 32.99%

3. Hartford

Hartford, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 125,211
People Who Own Their Home: 20.11%
Married Adults: 23.64%

4. Jewett City

Jewett City, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 3,488
People Who Own Their Home: 37.02%
Married Adults: 35.99%

5. New Haven

New Haven, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 130,553
People Who Own Their Home: 25.74%
Married Adults: 28.57%

6. Waterbury

Waterbury, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 109,887
People Who Own Their Home: 39.87%
Married Adults: 36.19%

7. Rockville

Rockville, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 7,348
People Who Own Their Home: 24.41%
Married Adults: 33.98%

8. Stafford Springs

Stafford Springs, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 4,734
People Who Own Their Home: 47.34%
Married Adults: 42.52%

9. New London

New London, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 27,536
People Who Own Their Home: 32.03%
Married Adults: 27.18%

10. New Milford

New Milford, Connecticut

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 6,568
People Who Own Their Home: 49.17%
Married Adults: 39.17%

There You Have It

Like we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in {state} is usually a subjective matter. But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.

If you’re curious enough, here are the happiest cities in {state}, according to science:
For more Connecticut reading , check out:

Detailed List Of Miserable Places In Connecticut

City Rank People Who Own Their Home
Bridgeport 1 35.65%
Westbrook Center 2 44.13%
Hartford 3 20.11%
Jewett City 4 37.02%
New Haven 5 25.74%
Waterbury 6 39.87%
Rockville 7 24.41%
Stafford Springs 8 47.34%
New London 9 32.03%
New Milford 10 49.17%
New Britain 11 36.1%
Willimantic 12 31.35%
Plainfield Village 13 56.82%
Thompsonville 14 32.29%
Putnam 15 46.11%
Byram 16 38.32%
Ansonia 17 51.3%
Danielson 18 40.03%
Stamford 19 50.44%
Manchester 20 51.68%
West Haven 21 50.14%
Blue Hills 22 81.1%
East Hartford 23 53.32%
Winsted 24 43.36%
Meriden 25 52.97%
Norwich 26 46.76%
Danbury 27 54.64%
Moosup 28 54.47%
Derby 29 52.62%
Norwalk 30 59.26%
Branford Center 31 40.92%
Groton 32 32.9%
Torrington 33 59.2%
Greenwich 34 43.35%
Naugatuck 35 61.67%
Storrs 36 32.21%
Clinton 37 61.42%
Bristol 38 62.12%
Middletown 39 48.71%
Bethel 40 64.46%
Terryville 41 66.64%
Stratford 42 75.38%
East Haven 43 64.66%
Wallingford Center 44 54.51%
Portland 45 65.55%
Colchester 46 51.93%
Conning Towers Nautilus Park 47 15.12%
Glenville 48 67.27%
Deep River Center 49 61.21%
Broad Brook 50 61.88%
Pawcatuck 51 51.52%
Guilford Center 52 58.45%
Madison Center 53 49.48%
Cos Cob 54 69.83%
Noank 55 67.89%
Long Hill 56 21.46%
Waterford 57 70.05%
Milford 58 72.03%
Hazardville 59 80.95%
Mystic 60 54.1%
Darien 61 80.03%
Heritage Village 62 71.25%
Westport 63 78.82%
Northwest Harwinton 64 82.38%
Windsor Locks 65 74.75%
Oxoboxo River 66 69.18%
Pemberwick 67 60.54%
Collinsville 68 64.07%
Salmon Brook 69 80.07%
Shelton 70 74.9%
Niantic 71 62.24%
Oakville 72 69.51%
Watertown 73 69.75%
East Hampton 74 80.84%
Lake Pocotopaug 75 67.46%
West Hartford 76 69.0%
Ridgefield 77 63.47%
Riverside 78 79.44%
Coventry Lake 79 85.42%
Sherwood Manor 80 90.39%
Trumbull 81 86.63%
Essex Village 82 74.41%
Wethersfield 83 75.89%
Old Greenwich 84 82.39%
Newington 85 79.75%
Southwood Acres 86 85.69%
Orange 87 83.98%
Crystal Lake 88 80.2%
Glastonbury Center 89 63.61%
North Haven 90 81.58%
Cheshire Village 91 76.75%
Kensington 92 82.84%
Old Saybrook Center 93 73.47%
Old Mystic 94 77.27%
Simsbury Center 95 81.01%
Durham 96 83.2%
West Simsbury 97 87.53%
Weatogue 98 82.2%
About Nick Johnson

Nick Johnson earned his masters in Business Administration from the Drucker School At Claremont Graduate University. He has written for 39 publications across the country and ran the media relations department at Movoto, a real estate portal based in San Francisco. He has been featured in over 500 publications as an expert in real estate and as an authority on real estate trends.

Nick's the creator of the HomeSnacks YouTube channel that now has over 260,000 subscribers and is an excellent source to learn about different parts of the country.