Connecticut is one of the worst states in the country for affordability, according to a recent study from WalletHub.
The study ranks which states are the “best” to live in by comparing affordability, the economy, health and education, safety, and the overall quality of life. Connecticut ranks above average on every metric, except for affordability, which drags down the state’s overall ranking. WalletHub ranks Connecticut as the 46th least affordable state in the country, and the third least affordable in the Northeast, behind New York and New Jersey.
Connecticut’s overall ranking was 22, the lowest of all the Northeastern states.
WalletHub determined affordability using a calculation that takes into consideration the cost of housing, homeownership rates, median household income, median annual property taxes, and the cost of living. Cost of living and property taxes are the most heavily weighed factors in this calculation—two areas that Connecticut has been struggling with.
Connecticut has the third-highest property taxes in the country, and while the average hourly earnings of private-sector employees have increased over the last year, they have not kept pace with the cost of living. Furthermore, unemployment has increased by 1.3% from June 2025 to June 2026, and is now the highest it has been since 2021.
“When deciding on a place to move, you should first consider financial factors like the cost of living, housing prices and job availability,” WalletHub analyst Chris Lupo said in the report. “Many states have strong economies, though, so you should also consider a wide variety of other factors, such as how where you live will impact your health and safety, and whether you will have adequate access to activities that you enjoy.”
According to U-Haul data, half of the movers in the state are leaving, mostly to other northeastern states, Florida, or Virginia. The overwhelming majority of Connecticut residents believe the state is unaffordable, and 40% say that they are likely to leave the state in the next five years.
There are many factors contributing to the affordability crisis in Connecticut, including the rising cost of electricity, high taxes, and housing costs. There is a severe housing shortage in the state that is driving up the cost of rent and the price of buying a home, among other factors. However, the housing market is being kept afloat by people leaving New York, which is even more expensive.
Earlier this year, during a special session, “An Act Concerning Housing Growth” passed after surviving a veto from Gov. Ned Lamont. This bill will empower Councils of Governments to make recommendations to towns and municipalities on how to build more affordable housing.
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I’m too poor to die.
I think CT is expensive but something doesn’t add up. If so many people are leaving the state why is there a housing crisis?
Yet the voters will continue to vote for the same old democratic politicians and never vote for change. Lamont will win another 4 years in November.
CT has the 5th highest teacher salaries and among the lowest class sizes, as mreasured by education economists. This combination is a double whammy to property taxpayers. Greedy teachers’ unions like the easier workloads, but the low class size dynamic is what is killing taxpayers since it’s the most expensive educational intervention after very generous salaries.. The problem is that below the ratio of 15.2 to 1, achievement gains are statistically insignificant. There’s hardly a school district in the state that is not below 15.2 to 1. In Guilford, it’s 10.93 to 1, or 28% below this baseline. To be clear, this is not actual class sizes. It’s a statistical measure of the ratio between the number of students in a system versus the number of classroom teachers. Class sizes may be larger, in the range of 18-20 to 1. Early elementary classes tend to be smaller than middle and high school classes. Howewer, if districts raised the ratio back to 15.2 to 1, it would mean that class sizes would increase no more than 3-4 students. For this, the propery tax burden and its forward trajectory would be reduced dramatically. For a complete anlalysis of every school district in CT and the potential savings to taxpayers of a modest raising of class sizes, go to: Greatereducationcouncilof CT.org. Click on “Sick of high property taxes in CT…”
For an analysis of teachers’ unions political spending to preserve its education monoloply and support other far left causes, go to: https://defendinged.org/investigations/teachers-unions-spending/