The Safest and Most Dangerous Cities in Connecticut

Connecticut Cities With the Lowest Crime Rate

The Fairfield County town of Ridgefield has a rich and colorful history. It was the site of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Ridgefield, which claimed the lives of soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy. To this day, a British cannonball (and the baseball-sized crater it left behind) can be found lodged in the side of the Keeler Inn, a one-time tavern turned museum.

You won’t find many skirmishes in Ridgefield today, though. It has the lowest violent crime rate in the state and the second-lowest rate of property crime. Its position at the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and its proximity to New York City make Ridgefield a desirable town for suburbanites. Ambitious commuters can make it from Ridgefield to Manhattan's Grand Central Station via the Metro-North Railroad in just over 100 minutes.

Heading southeast along the Long Island Sound shoreline will take you to Madison, which comes in just behind Ridgefield for the second-lowest violent crime rate in the state. The city has a per-capita violent crime rate of a mere six incidents per 100,000 residents each year. In 2023, a lone aggravated assault was the town’s only violent crime. The south-central Connecticut city of East Hampton is also incredibly safe, with eight violent crimes per 100,000 people annually.

In terms of property crimes like theft, Plainfield is the safest place in the state with a per-capita rate of 46. Located in northeastern Connecticut, this commerce-rich small town is accessible to several nearby big cities. Providence, Rhode Island, is 30 miles to the east of it, Hartford, Connecticut, is 40 miles to the west, and Boston is 60 miles northeast.

Connecticut Cities With the Highest Crime Rate

Big cities often have higher crime levels than their suburban neighbors, and Connecticut is no different. Its capital, Hartford, leads the state in violent crime. The city is home to about 121,000 people and saw close to 600 violent crimes in 2023 — 36 of which were homicides. Another big city, New Haven, ranks third in the state for violent crime.

Just west of New Haven is the suburban town of Orange. Its claim to fame is being home to the North American headquarters of Pez candy, but we’re talking about Orange for a different reason: It’s the place in the state where you’re most likely to be a victim of property crime. The per-capita property crime rate there is 4,218 per 100,000 people.

New Haven is near the top of the state’s charts for property crime, too, with a per-capita rate of 3,689 incidents per 100,000 people. In 2023, that city saw a whopping 3,443 reports of theft and 1,324 motor vehicle thefts.

How Safe Is Connecticut Compared to Other States?

Despite having elevated crime numbers in some of its cities, Connecticut as a whole is very safe. This is especially true when you look at it in comparison to other states.

To illustrate, let’s take Connecticut’s neighbor, New York. New York City has an annual rate of 668 violent crimes per 100,000 people. In Bridgeport, which is Connecticut’s most populous city, that number is 391 — 41 percent lower than in the Big Apple. Even Connecticut’s “most violent” city of Hartford, has a 16 percent lower violent crime rate than New York City.

Zooming out to the rest of the country, let’s see how Connecticut compares to the other 49 states in some of the biggest crime categories.

Violent crime rates

(per 100,000 residents)

Violent crime

• Aggravated assault: 69 percent below the national average
• Rape: 47 percent below national average
• Homicide: 35 percent below the national average
• Robbery: 35 percent below the national average

Property crime rates

(per 100,000 residents)

Property crime

• Burglary: 49 percent below the national average
• Theft: 16 percent below the national average
• Vehicle theft: 8 percent below the national average

As you can see, the stats show that you’re much less likely to be a victim of crime in Connecticut than in much of the rest of the country.

Crime Trends in Connecticut

Crime in Connecticut has been on a downward trajectory for the better part of a decade. Over the last 10 years, overall crime has fallen 30 percent. Violent crime has gone down by 43 percent, while property crime has dropped by 29 percent.¹

Connecticut has an ongoing commitment to reducing crime, and state officials put their money where their mouths are to fund initiatives aimed at achieving this goal.

In the 2022 legislative session, for example, lawmakers passed measures to make considerable investments in crime prevention. Those investments included $11 million to trace firearms to their sources, reduce violent crimes, and prevent car thefts; $8 million for community initiatives aimed at mitigating gun violence; and $4 million on innovative forensic technologies to help clear backlogged cases.¹

Another recently adopted law tightens gun restrictions in the state. It bans the open carry of firearms in public and increases bail, probation, and parole measures for people with repeat firearm offenses.² A bill moving through the legislature in 2025 would provide funding to strengthen the partnership between law enforcement officers and social workers, which can improve outcomes for both victims and offenders.³

In addition to low crime rates, there are a lot of other reasons to love living in Connecticut. It has vibrant communities, easy access to major cities, ample recreation options, and strong job opportunities. Its acclaimed cultural attractions, well-rated schools, and top-notch health care organizations contribute to a high quality of life for the nearly 3.7 million people who call Connecticut home.

Where Our Crime Data Comes From

Unless specified otherwise, the information in this article is based on crime data compiled by the FBI and made available through the Crime Data Explorer. Statewide violent and property crime statistics are drawn from the FBI’s 2023 Crime in the United States Report (Table 5), and for city-level crime rates, we referred to Table 8, which lists reported offenses by state and city.
Important note: Crime statistics offer valuable insights, but they aren’t the only way to evaluate a community’s safety. Local context, law enforcement practices, and reporting standards can all influence how crime is recorded. Additionally, FBI publication tables and the data displayed on the Crime Data Explorer may differ slightly due to variations in methodology.