Connecticut by the numbers
In Connecticut, the median worker earns $58,400 a year, the typical home is worth $343,200 and carries $6,575 of property tax, and the average household pays $203 a month for electricity at 27.37¢ per kilowatt-hour.
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Energy
Connecticut's recent history is a useful lesson in how much of an American electricity rate is policy rather than fuel. In 2024 the state's public benefits charge rose steeply, driven largely by the cost of a long-term contract with the Millstone nuclear station and by the recovery of pandemic-era arrears that utilities had been ordered not to collect. Bills jumped, the political reaction was severe, and the charge became the centre of a legislative fight.
As those specific recovery items rolled off, the charge fell back. That is why Connecticut shows a year-over-year decline while nearly every neighbouring state rose. The comparison is against an inflated base, not evidence that Connecticut has become a cheap place to buy electricity. It has not. The state remains well above the national average.
The structural drivers are the New England ones. Constrained gas pipelines set the winter marginal price, and a dense, ageing distribution network in the southwest of the state carries high maintenance costs.
Averaged across the twelve months to May 2026, Connecticut households used 709 kilowatt-hours a month and paid $203. At the state median wage that is about 7.2 hours of work a month to keep the lights on. For heating, gas is still cheaper to run than a heat pump here, by about $8.71 per million BTU.
Work and pay
The median Connecticut worker earned $58,400 in 2024, 18% above the national median. What distinguishes a state's labour market is rarely its biggest occupations, which are retail and food service everywhere, but what it has disproportionately.
| Occupation | Concentration | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Gambling Service Workers, All Other | 4.04× | $36,840 |
| Actuaries | 3.86× | $148,220 |
| Lathe and Turning Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic | 3.85× | $47,860 |
| Special Education Teachers, All Other | 3.8× | $57,120 |
| Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials | 3.71× | $36,640 |
Property tax
The median Connecticut homeowner pays $6,575 a year on a home worth $343,200, an effective rate of 1.92% against a national 0.98%. Nobody sets that rate. It is what falls out of county, city, school district and special district levies applied to an assessed value, so the state figure is a weighted average of 9 counties rather than a posted number.
Cost of living
Prices in Connecticut run at 103.6 where the national average is 100, ranking it #10 of 51. Goods sit at 97.3, which is close to national almost everywhere because most goods are shipped and priced nationally. Rents sit at 117.0, and that is where states actually separate from one another. A median wage of $58,400 therefore buys what $56,371 buys nationally.
Metro areas priced separately: New Haven (104.6) , Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford (102.7) , Norwich-New London-Willimantic (100.4) , Waterbury-Shelton (99.8) .
Housing
House prices in Connecticut rose 4.6% over the year to 2026 Q2, against a median across all states of +2.7%. Over ten years the index is +98.7%. Prices are at or near their record level.
Metro areas tracked here: Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury (+6.5%) , Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford (+4.3%) .
Who supplies the power
11 utilities report residential service in Connecticut, together serving 1.3 million customers. Retail choice statewide.
Connecticut: common questions
What does it cost to live in Connecticut?
Prices overall run at 103.6 against a national average of 100, with rents at 117.0. The typical home is worth $343,200 and carries $6,575 a year in property tax, an effective rate of 1.92% against a national 0.98%. Electricity averages $203 a month at 27.37¢ per kilowatt-hour. Against that, the median wage is $58,400.
What is the property tax rate in Connecticut?
The effective rate is 1.92% of home value, from a median bill of $6,575. It is set locally rather than by the state, so the figure is a weighted outcome across 9 counties. County by county rates.
Does a salary go further in Connecticut?
The median wage of $58,400 buys what $56,371 buys nationally, once local prices are taken out. A state paying above the national median while charging above it for housing can leave a household no better off, and this is the arithmetic that shows which side of that line Connecticut falls on.
Is Connecticut expensive for electricity?
It ranks #8 of 51 jurisdictions on price at 27.37¢ per kilowatt-hour, +48.4% against the U.S. average. On the actual bill it ranks 3 of 51, because households there use 709 kWh a month against a national 871.
What is the median salary in Connecticut?
$58,400 across all occupations, about $28.08 an hour, covering 1,682,000 wage and salary workers as of 2024.
Who supplies electricity in Connecticut?
11 utilities report residential service, the largest being Connecticut Light & Power Co with 924,132 customers. Retail choice statewide.
Electricity May 2026, gas 2024, utilities 2024, wages 2024. All figures from federal statistical agencies. Methodology · Sources