There’s no denying it: there are plenty of places in Connecticut that are downright beautiful and full of excitement.
Unfortunately, not all towns and cities in Constitution State are so lucky.
Just like in all U.S. States, there are definitely some boring places within Connecticut’s’ borders. You know the places where everyone has an AARP card and the most exciting thing they do all day is post a picture of their grandchild on Facebook.
Like Shelton, for instance. In our latest analysis, we found that this city was the most boring city in all of Oklahoma according to Saturday Night Science. But don’t feel bad if you’re a resident of Shelton. There are plenty of other boring, lackluster places in Connecticut as well.
Here they are. Try not to jump out of your seat with excitement.
Don’t freak out, in fact, believe it not, a boring city is actually one a lot of people would like to call home.
Before you get all upset if your city’s name is on the list, rest assured that we didn’t use personal opinion when it comes to what classifies a city or town as “boring” or “exciting”. We crunched actual numbers to figure out which towns are statistically more boring.
Showing this data to you is the kind of thing that a real estate agent knows, but would never share.
For more Connecticut reading, check out:
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Most Boring Places In Connecticut For 2023
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Average Age: 44.6
% Married: 27.0%
More on Shelton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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3. Torrington
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Average Age: 40.8
% Married: 23.0%
More on Torrington: Real Estate
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Average Age: 46.0
% Married: 24.0%
More on Derby: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Average Age: 38.7
% Married: 24.0%
More on Naugatuck: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Average Age: 40.7
% Married: 21.0%
More on Ansonia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Average Age: 37.5
% Married: 25.0%
More on Bristol: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Average Age: 40.2
% Married: 17.0%
More on Norwich: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Average Age: 38.6
% Married: 10.0%
More on Danbury: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Average Age: 40.0
% Married: 13.0%
More on Norwalk: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Methodology: How we determined the boring cities in the Constitution State
You would present the following case to your friends if you were argueing with them at a bar about the most boring place to live in Connecticut. And that’s why we call it Saturday Night Science.
Because our data speaks more truth than feelings.
To figure out how boring a place is, we factored in things we generally think make people exciting, and then we figure out which cities have the least number of those exciting people.
We used the U.S. American Community Census data to gather the information presented here. HSome of the things people tend to think of as making a city’s population boring include:
- % of Population Over 25 (higher is more boring)
- % of Married Household (higher is more boring)
- Average Age (higher is more boring)
- % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
- Population density (lower is more boring)
Then, our algorithm generates a ranking for each place in these categories. After crunching the numbers, all of the cities ranked from most boring to most exciting.
For this ranking, we used every Connecticut city with at least 9,000 residents. This keeps us from prejudicing our rankings by including very small pockets of retired people.
Grab your rocker and hold on.
We updated this article for 2023, and it’s our tenth time ranking the most boring cities in Connecticut.
There You Have It – Now That You’re Asleep
On a ranking like this, there are usually no winners, but since Connecticut isn’t necessarily the most boring state in the United States, the cities on this ranking can at least take solace that there are, in fact, more boring cities in the country.
If you’re also curious enough, here are the most exciting places in Connecticut, according to science:
- New Haven
- New London
- Hartford
For more Connecticut reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Connecticut
- Cheapest Places To Live In Connecticut
- Most Dangerous Cities In Connecticut
- Richest Cities In Connecticut
- Safest Places In Connecticut
- Worst Places To Live In Connecticut
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Connecticut
Detailed List Of The Most Boring Cities In Connecticut For 2023
| Rank | City | Population | Average Age | % Married | % Kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shelton, CT | 41,206 | 44.6 | 27.0% | 26.4% |
| 2 | Milford, CT | 50,664 | 46.6 | 29.0% | 22.2% |
| 3 | Torrington, CT | 35,510 | 40.8 | 23.0% | 26.8% |
| 4 | Derby, CT | 12,373 | 46.0 | 24.0% | 20.1% |
| 5 | Naugatuck, CT | 31,653 | 38.7 | 24.0% | 28.7% |
| 6 | Ansonia, CT | 18,954 | 40.7 | 21.0% | 26.8% |
| 7 | Bristol, CT | 61,052 | 37.5 | 25.0% | 30.6% |
| 8 | Norwich, CT | 40,054 | 40.2 | 17.0% | 26.5% |
| 9 | Danbury, CT | 86,456 | 38.6 | 10.0% | 32.5% |
| 10 | Norwalk, CT | 91,050 | 40.0 | 13.0% | 28.8% |
| 11 | Meriden, CT | 60,556 | 40.2 | 21.0% | 26.6% |
| 12 | Middletown, CT | 48,152 | 37.5 | 20.0% | 22.0% |
| 13 | Stamford, CT | 135,413 | 37.6 | 8.0% | 28.1% |
| 14 | Waterbury, CT | 114,480 | 36.7 | 13.0% | 32.8% |
| 15 | Groton, CT | 9,364 | 38.0 | 14.0% | 21.4% |
| 16 | West Haven, CT | 55,336 | 36.1 | 20.0% | 30.4% |
| 17 | Bridgeport, CT | 148,470 | 37.5 | 8.0% | 28.9% |
| 18 | New Britain, CT | 74,212 | 33.4 | 9.0% | 31.6% |
| 19 | Hartford, CT | 121,057 | 33.1 | 6.0% | 32.0% |
| 20 | New London, CT | 27,596 | 35.5 | 8.0% | 23.7% |
| 21 | New Haven, CT | 135,736 | 31.0 | 7.0% | 27.9% |
excuse me but westport is fun
The only reason every one thinks Simsbury is so bad is because it’s full of bratty kids who don’t realize how much it has till they leave. Then they move back there to have their own kids once they realize it’s beautiful, full of farms, vineyards, great bars, great food, pools, sports fields, hiking trails, 2 amusement parks near by, concerts and festivals and carnivals held all through out the year, fishing, tubing/kayaking, car shows, art walks, is an easy drive from Hartford, NYC, and the beach, has ski mountains near by, one of the best school systems in the country, and no doubt the best bagels in the world. Simsbury should not be number one on that list and as an 18 year old who lives there, I’m going to miss it going to college, because it’s given me everything in life and I’m privlaged to live there.
I Agree with Ali!! As someone who grew up in Simsbury and then spent 4 years going to college and traveling around the country I can honestly say I am sick of the stigma attached to this wonderful town by all the bored high school kids who don’t know enough to see how good they have it.
So true! I grew up in Old Lyme and Pittsford, NY. I didn’t know how nice I had it until I got married and had my son! Wow! My public high school in Pittsford is the 10th best in the country. And living in Old Lyme (across the street from the governor), we just had to drive a mile to get to our sailboat and boom….off on another adventure! And when I was in my 20s, I remember driving to a different town every weekend for that town’s fair. Wonderful state! At least it was in the 70s and 80s!
That may have been the longest sentence I have ever seen. Little period humor?
Reading all these comments, it is obvious no one actually read the criteria these rankings are based off of. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but at least they explained the reason.
First of all there isn’t a Northwest Harwinton. The picture you chose was of The Fish homeless shelter in Torrington. You should get your facts straight when talking about boring. On that note Harwinton is boring and I was born and lived there until 2 years ago.
Yeah like at least 3 of them on this list are not actual places.
I don’t know how you chose your criteria but I they are so ridiculous it’s no wonder the results don’t make sense. So much is based on age, yet older people in general are way more interesting than young. Unmarried people can be so boring no one wants to marry them. And do you really think people over 50 spend their time posting pictures of their grandchildren. Frankly, I’m too busy doing interesting things to waste any more time on this nonsense!
I happened to love Westport and Essex. Based on what you are using for criteria, I’m surprised Old Lyme isn’t on there. (But it’s been a long time since I’ve been there).
Are they kidding? Saybrook and Essex offer beautiful beaches, great restaurants as and cultural activities. If the people compiling this list feel “old people” are individuals over 35, I feel sorry for them when they reach that milestone, because it creeps up on you faster than you think. By the way, if you want directions to the dullest towns in CT, google Prospect or Beacon Falls!
Love the article now maybe even more silly tourists will go somewhere less boring and leave us alone. You can have your exciting, carbon copy, tiki-taki box towns full of ignorant hipsters discovering things they think are new. Boring is great. Every weekend our town fills up with thrill seeking zombies who seize up on the roads and pull their dim witted children through our streets gawking at the fake attractions and consuming manufactured fun. What does that really say about their empty and boring lives?
Did Mr. Sparkes of “RoadSnacks” bother check the crime statistics in some of the top 10 “least boring” cities? That is not the kind of “upbeat and fun” excitement that would make me want to pay them a visit.
It is strange that a boring town is mainly defined by how many residents over the age of 35 live there. Who was on this voting panel? A group of twenty-somethings who are only interested in going bar hopping, night clubbing and causing trouble in the bad parts of the state? If this is what they call boring, I will take Old Saybrook above any of these towns any day. I am 53 and the younger crowd is what I call boring! I work with a lot of younger so-called educated people and if they see or hear about something that has been around for years and years, they take credit for coming up with a new idea. They already reinvented the wheel over and over again. Living and not being bored to them means to lock yourself in your bedroom so that they can text message the millions of facebook friends!
Making judgments from totally unrelated data. Sounds like the GOP Presidential slate!