City profile · Connecticut · Census ACS 2023

Stafford Springs, CT

Stafford Springs's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

4,801
Residents
$70,967
Median income
$200,900
Median home
$1,955
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Stafford Springs.

Place dossier plate

Sheet CT-STAFFORD-SPRINGS-CT · Stafford Springs, CT 4,801 pop · income 51st pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-MID · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-MID · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-MID · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 4,801
  • INC-MID $70,967
  • COL-PAR 103.6
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-MID 51st
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Cleona
  • HOME-MID $200,900
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Cleona, PA (+ $4 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Stafford Springs

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Stafford Springs on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Stafford Springs on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 4,801.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $70,967. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Stafford Springs - the verdict

Nationally, Stafford Springs sits in the 51st percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.

51st
percentile, household income
43rd
percentile, home value
86th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Stafford Springs, CT

Connecticut's Stafford Springs is a small town, with 4,801 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $70,967 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 7.0%. Home values in Stafford Springs run a median of $200,900, and the median resident age is 41.8 years. Educational attainment runs 23.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 59.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

The city is served by 4 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.

Connecticut carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Connecticut scores 103.6 (Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,955 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Connecticut's average monthly utility costs around $345 (state average). Workers in Stafford Springs report an average commute of 23.3 minutes, with 86.5% driving alone and 10.3% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 87.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very High).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Stafford Springs's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to comparison shortlist to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Stafford Springs, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

1. Work and mobility

What does the journey to work look like in Stafford Springs?

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 86.5%. The reported mean trip to work is 23.3 minutes.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 2

Which cities make useful reference points for Stafford Springs?

Within Connecticut, the closest population matches are Lake Pocotopaug (4,715 residents, $108,430 income); Colchester (4,624 residents, $79,685 income); Byram (5,011 residents, $92,444 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Cheboygan, MI (4,801 residents); Wolf Lake, MI (4,802 residents); Ogallala, NE (4,800 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Question 3

What does the education layer cover for Stafford Springs?

The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 23.9% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.

The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.

See how the family ranking is built →

Question 4

How far does income reach against housing in Stafford Springs?

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 7.0%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.

Compare the housing trade-off →

Population

4,801 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$70,967 /yr

Above median income · poverty 7.0% (Below-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

103.6 (US=100)

High cost · BEA RPP 2024, Connecticut average

City profile score · Stafford Springs, CT

43/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Poverty rate C-
7.0%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income C-
$70,967

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Bachelor's+ share D
23.9%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Cost of living F
103.6 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Stafford Springs profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Poverty rate, Household income, Bachelor's+ share, Cost of living. Poverty rateHousehold incomeBachelor's+ shareCost of living 43 D
Stafford Springs profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Poverty rate: 53/100 (C-) · 7.0%
  • Household income: 50/100 (C-) · $70,967
  • Bachelor's+ share: 46/100 (D) · 23.9%
  • Cost of living: 24/100 (F) · 103.6 index

How does Stafford Springs compare to other US cities?

Stafford Springs measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 51% higher than other cities
Home value 43% pricier than other cities
Median rent 86% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Stafford Springs against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Connecticut only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Connecticut-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Stafford Springs near the bottom of Connecticut's cities

Among the 207 Connecticut cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Stafford Springs ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Stafford Springs only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#165 of 198
17th percentile in Connecticut
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 207
0th percentile in Connecticut
Median Home Value
#192 of 201
4th percentile in Connecticut
Poverty Rate
#49 of 204
76th percentile in Connecticut
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#172 of 207
17th percentile in Connecticut
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Connecticut only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

51stIncome percentile
Gauge source note

51st percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Stafford Springs's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$200,900 Among the most affordable more affordable than 57% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). This entry sits in this band. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Above this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Stafford Springs $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Stafford Springs's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,747 of 15,516
More affordable than 63% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,972 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 2.8×, Stafford Springs sits in the affordable band: national rank #5,747 of 15,516 and #4,972 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$70,967 Stafford Springs, CT median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Stafford Springs, CT Stafford Springs, CT's median household income ($70,967) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Stafford Springs, CT-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Stafford Springs, CT median $70,967/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Stafford Springs, CT median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Stafford Springs, CT.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 23.9%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 7.0%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 59.6%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
4,801
Median Income
$70,967
Median Home Value
$200,900
Median Age
41.8
Poverty Rate
7.0%
Labor force participation
59.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
23.9%

Schools

Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Average Commute Time
23.3 minutes
Drive Alone
86.5%
Carpool
3.2%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
10.3%

Based on 2,129 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Connecticut statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $345

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Connecticut at $345 (electricity about $175 , water and sewer about $60 ).

These are Connecticut statewide averages, not a meter reading for Stafford Springs. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Connecticut's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.6 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Stafford Springs is $1,955/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Connecticut statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 87.6 / 100 (Very High).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Connecticut statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Stafford Springs sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Stafford Springs compares to similar-size Connecticut cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Stafford Springs (this city) 4,801 $70,967
Lake Pocotopaug 4,715 $108,430
Colchester 4,624 $79,685
Byram 5,011 $92,444
NCES CCD
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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