Connecticut has its fair share of dangerous places, and we’re here to tell you where those places are. We’ve done the hard work and created a list of the top ten most dangerous places in Connecticut for 2026.
How’d we determine the most dangerous places in horse country? We compared 94 cities using the FBI’s latest crime report for violent and property crime per capita for every place with over 7,000 residents.
Connecticut is one of the safer states in America, but like all places, some areas are safer than others. With cities like Bridgeport recording some of the highest numbers of property crimes and violent crimes in the state’s history, we are not shocked that Connecticut houses two of the most dangerous cities in the country.
535 violent crimes /100k · 3,587 property crimes /100k · #1 most violent in Connecticut
Located in
New Haven County, Connecticut
The numbers do not lie when it comes to the dangers of New Haven. The area can thank its criminals for helping it earn the title of most dangerous city in Connecticut for 2026 after the community ranked lowest in 2025.
Property crime seems to have been their specialty — a staggering 4,923 property crimes were recorded in 2024. If that is not enough to keep you up at night maybe the thought of the 518 burglaries that occurred will. Fingers crossed the Yale University Art Gallery was not the victim of one.
People making off with the possessions of others was not all the New Haven Police Department dealt with. Their community was also rattled by a whopping 734 violent crimes. And as the number 1 city in the state for total crime, the officers here had their work cut out for them.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
431 violent crimes /100k · 3,118 property crimes /100k · #3 most violent in Connecticut
Let’s just say you do not live in Hamden if you like feeling so safe you would leave your doors unlocked. Considering that the town ranks third highest for violent crime, it is more like the kind of place that makes you want to get a guard dog. If you do, at least you can enjoy walks on the Farmington Canal State Park Trail together.
We should probably mention that the community ranks second highest in the state for total crime too. If you did not already believe things were amok, consider the fact that Hamden used to be the second most dangerous city in Connecticut but is now the second.
516 violent crimes /100k · 2,846 property crimes /100k · #2 most violent in Connecticut
Located in
Hartford County, Connecticut
Not just the home of The Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford is also known as the “Insurance Capital of the World.” However, “Murder Capital of Connecticut” would be a more fitting nickname. This city ranks highest in the state for it.
Along with the 21 people that lost their lives in 2024, plenty of others were hurt during the 382 aggravated assaults that happened in Hartford.
With this tally, it comes as no surprise that the violent crime rate here is higher than that of Connecticut. If you thought things couldn’t get worse, think again. The state capital also ranks as a leader in the number of cases of arson. Residents can blame that on the 28 that occurred in 2024.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
322 violent crimes /100k · 2,919 property crimes /100k · #6 most violent in Connecticut
Located in
New Haven County, Connecticut
Sticky fingers are abundant in Waterbury. Just ask the area’s 2,370 victims of larceny in 2024. That number is almost as shocking as the fact that there is a one in 34 chance that a property crime will happen to you while in this city.
Those startling odds are not the only reason you should be concerned. Violent crime is an issue in Waterbury as well. Though not as many were committed here as in other Connecticut cities, 372 reports are nothing to laugh at.
The city’s criminal activity may be hard to overlook, but you can at least try and get your mind off it by visiting Fulton Park.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
314 violent crimes /100k · 2,549 property crimes /100k · #7 most violent in Connecticut
Located in
New Haven County, Connecticut
Built at the conjunction of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers, Derby has a history that dates back to at least to 1642. The town provided the home for a serial killer — Lydia Sherman, “The Derby Poisoner,” who murdered three husbands and eight children during the 1860s and 1870s.
Even with this gruesome past, murder really isn’t a huge problem in Derby these days. Rather, property crime represents a bigger danger. The town suffered 317 of these violations last year, all in a community of just 12,437 residents. This gives it the number 9 highest rate of property crime in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
421 violent crimes /100k · 1,925 property crimes /100k · #4 most violent in Connecticut
Located in
Hartford County, Connecticut
You could argue that life in New Britain is looking up. The town has moved several pots from its previous ranking in 2025. However, 2024 was not all sunshine and rainbows for this community in central Connecticut. The crime rate there is quite a bit higher than the national average after all.
When it came to violent crime, 228 aggravated assaults made up most of the 314 incidents that were recorded.
If you managed to avoid bodily harm in New Britain, it might have been your car that criminals got to — thieves made off with 363 of them. That is a real bummer if you were planning to use one of those sets of wheels to visit sights like Little Poland.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
109 violent crimes /100k · 2,297 property crimes /100k · #19 most violent in Connecticut
Bloomfield’s population may be on the smaller side, but the community still has plenty of crime. Residents and visitors have learned the hard way that their valuables need to be extra secure. People here were victims of 406 larcenies, 37 car thefts, and 63 burglaries recorded in 2024.
Those are not the only reasons Bloomfield landed a spot on this list. Scarily enough, 1 of the 24 violent crimes that took place here were murders. So you might want to stay alert on an evening visit to Penwood State Park.
Though the numbers so far say otherwise, you might be surprised to know that crime appears to be changing in this town too. Bloomfield is the seventh most dangerous city in Connecticut for 2026 but was the 15th lowest in 2025.
133 violent crimes /100k · 2,115 property crimes /100k · #15 most violent in Connecticut
Located in
Hartford County, Connecticut
Located in Hartford County, this town also moved up significantly on our list. The community ended up as the eighth most dangerous city in the state for 2026 but in 2025 it was in 2lowest place.
The change is partly due to the 1,256 property crimes that occurred. Those also help explain its 14th highest place ranking for property crime in Connecticut. Based on these statistics, it seems like people here would prefer to keep the books they borrow from the Manchester Public Library than return them, but that is just a hunch.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
104 violent crimes /100k · 2,272 property crimes /100k · #21 most violent in Connecticut
162 violent crimes /100k · 1,872 property crimes /100k · #13 most violent in Connecticut
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Connecticut’s statewide median.
On the map
Where crime hits hardest in Connecticut
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Connecticut for 2026?
Every year the FBI release two crime datasets on cities in Connecticut. First a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in Connecticut, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.
For our analysis, we focused on the 2024 data, specifically the 2024 Crime In The United States Report for Connecticut.
So what criteria did we use? Have a look:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered Connecticut cities over 7,000 in population. That left us with 94 cities in Connecticut.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 94 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in Connecticut — New Haven. Any ties went to the smaller city.
This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our eleventh time ranking the most dangerous places to live in Connecticut and is updated for 2026.
The full plate
Crime By City In Connecticut
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Dangerous Index | Population | Total Crimes Per 100K | Violent Crimes Per 100K | Property Crimes Per 100K | Murders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Haven | 1.00 | 137,243 | 4,122 | 535 | 3,587 | 15 |
| 2 | Hamden | 3.00 | 59,908 | 3,549 | 431 | 3,118 | 1 |
| 3 | Hartford | 3.50 | 119,626 | 3,361 | 516 | 2,846 | 21 |
| 4 | Waterbury | 5.00 | 115,363 | 3,241 | 322 | 2,919 | 8 |
| 5 | Derby | 8.00 | 12,437 | 2,862 | 314 | 2,549 | 0 |
| 6 | New Britain | 11.00 | 74,528 | 2,347 | 421 | 1,925 | 3 |
| 7 | Bloomfield | 14.50 | 22,032 | 2,406 | 109 | 2,297 | 1 |
| 8 | Manchester | 14.50 | 59,378 | 2,248 | 133 | 2,115 | 0 |
| 9 | Trumbull | 16.00 | 37,492 | 2,377 | 104 | 2,272 | 0 |
| 10 | Enfield | 16.50 | 40,659 | 2,034 | 162 | 1,872 | 0 |
| 11 | Milford | 16.50 | 53,065 | 2,212 | 117 | 2,096 | 1 |
| 12 | Bridgeport | 18.00 | 148,132 | 1,862 | 393 | 1,469 | 12 |
| 13 | Meriden | 19.00 | 59,943 | 1,817 | 128 | 1,688 | 1 |
| 14 | East Haven | 19.50 | 27,447 | 2,051 | 98 | 1,953 | 0 |
| 15 | New London | 22.50 | 27,848 | 1,594 | 201 | 1,393 | 0 |
| 16 | Newington | 23.00 | 31,504 | 2,212 | 76 | 2,136 | 0 |
| 17 | Norwich | 23.00 | 39,832 | 1,466 | 206 | 1,260 | 0 |
| 18 | Danbury | 23.00 | 86,257 | 1,519 | 262 | 1,257 | 0 |
| 19 | Clinton | 23.50 | 13,481 | 2,307 | 74 | 2,233 | 0 |
| 20 | Cromwell | 23.50 | 14,411 | 1,971 | 83 | 1,887 | 1 |
| 21 | West Hartford | 24.00 | 64,093 | 2,796 | 64 | 2,732 | 0 |
| 22 | East Hartford | 25.00 | 50,584 | 1,759 | 89 | 1,670 | 3 |
| 23 | East Windsor | 25.50 | 11,179 | 2,621 | 63 | 2,558 | 0 |
| 24 | Stratford | 27.50 | 52,531 | 2,052 | 67 | 1,985 | 0 |
| 25 | Stamford | 27.50 | 136,483 | 1,383 | 158 | 1,225 | 1 |
| 26 | Orange | 28.50 | 14,352 | 3,547 | 42 | 3,505 | 0 |
| 27 | Berlin | 28.50 | 20,529 | 1,500 | 93 | 1,408 | 0 |
| 28 | Norwalk | 28.50 | 92,987 | 1,589 | 85 | 1,505 | 0 |
| 29 | West Haven | 29.50 | 54,598 | 1,343 | 104 | 1,238 | 2 |
| 30 | Old Saybrook | 30.00 | 10,606 | 1,697 | 75 | 1,622 | 0 |
| 31 | Plainville | 32.50 | 17,504 | 1,577 | 69 | 1,508 | 0 |
| 32 | North Haven | 32.50 | 24,340 | 2,662 | 37 | 2,625 | 0 |
| 33 | Windsor | 33.00 | 29,382 | 1,817 | 61 | 1,756 | 1 |
| 34 | Southington | 34.00 | 43,849 | 1,580 | 66 | 1,514 | 0 |
| 35 | Willimantic | 35.50 | 18,393 | 990 | 174 | 816 | 0 |
| 36 | Ansonia | 36.00 | 19,049 | 1,475 | 68 | 1,407 | 1 |
| 37 | Rocky Hill | 36.00 | 20,692 | 1,310 | 77 | 1,232 | 0 |
| 38 | Groton | 37.50 | 9,282 | 873 | 194 | 679 | 0 |
| 39 | Groton Town | 37.50 | 27,927 | 1,081 | 93 | 988 | 1 |
| 40 | Branford | 38.00 | 28,000 | 1,718 | 46 | 1,671 | 0 |
| 41 | Torrington | 38.00 | 35,612 | 1,120 | 81 | 1,039 | 0 |
| 42 | Putnam | 38.50 | 9,345 | 910 | 118 | 792 | 0 |
| 43 | Windsor Locks | 38.50 | 12,513 | 1,087 | 88 | 999 | 0 |
| 44 | Wethersfield | 41.00 | 27,073 | 1,429 | 59 | 1,370 | 0 |
| 45 | Waterford | 44.00 | 19,913 | 1,702 | 25 | 1,677 | 0 |
| 46 | Middletown | 44.00 | 48,331 | 1,212 | 62 | 1,150 | 1 |
| 47 | Winchester | 47.50 | 10,247 | 917 | 68 | 849 | 0 |
| 48 | Stonington | 49.00 | 18,469 | 926 | 65 | 861 | 0 |
| 49 | South Windsor | 49.50 | 26,741 | 1,238 | 37 | 1,200 | 0 |
| 50 | Farmington | 49.50 | 26,852 | 1,557 | 22 | 1,534 | 0 |
| 51 | Naugatuck | 50.00 | 31,930 | 1,071 | 50 | 1,021 | 0 |
| 52 | Bristol | 50.50 | 61,895 | 1,016 | 58 | 958 | 2 |
| 53 | Fairfield | 50.50 | 64,098 | 1,434 | 23 | 1,410 | 0 |
| 54 | Vernon | 51.00 | 30,738 | 1,067 | 42 | 1,025 | 0 |
| 55 | Darien | 52.50 | 22,216 | 1,080 | 32 | 1,049 | 0 |
| 56 | Coventry | 54.50 | 12,338 | 559 | 81 | 478 | 0 |
| 57 | Glastonbury | 56.50 | 35,249 | 990 | 28 | 962 | 0 |
| 58 | Shelton | 58.00 | 42,616 | 751 | 42 | 709 | 0 |
| 59 | Guilford | 58.50 | 22,021 | 954 | 27 | 926 | 0 |
| 60 | Seymour | 59.50 | 17,034 | 622 | 47 | 575 | 0 |
| 61 | Brookfield | 61.00 | 17,496 | 589 | 57 | 532 | 0 |
| 62 | Plainfield | 62.50 | 15,265 | 203 | 79 | 124 | 0 |
| 63 | Watertown | 62.50 | 22,337 | 1,164 | 13 | 1,151 | 0 |
| 64 | Canton | 63.00 | 10,166 | 580 | 39 | 541 | 0 |
| 65 | Suffield | 65.50 | 15,641 | 652 | 26 | 627 | 0 |
| 66 | Woodbridge | 66.00 | 9,010 | 1,043 | 11 | 1,032 | 0 |
| 67 | New Milford | 66.00 | 28,377 | 567 | 28 | 539 | 0 |
| 68 | Granby | 67.50 | 11,371 | 563 | 26 | 536 | 0 |
| 69 | Westport | 67.50 | 27,606 | 1,134 | 4 | 1,130 | 0 |
| 70 | Ledyard | 69.50 | 15,483 | 284 | 58 | 226 | 1 |
| 71 | Avon | 70.00 | 18,886 | 651 | 21 | 630 | 0 |
| 72 | North Branford | 71.50 | 13,385 | 717 | 15 | 702 | 0 |
| 73 | Wilton | 71.50 | 18,398 | 647 | 16 | 631 | 0 |
| 74 | Greenwich | 72.00 | 63,651 | 877 | 9 | 867 | 0 |
| 75 | Middlebury | 73.00 | 8,057 | 496 | 25 | 472 | 0 |
| 76 | New Canaan | 74.00 | 20,973 | 787 | 10 | 777 | 0 |
| 77 | Simsbury | 74.00 | 25,108 | 589 | 16 | 574 | 1 |
| 78 | Monroe | 74.50 | 18,852 | 541 | 21 | 520 | 0 |
| 79 | East Hampton | 76.50 | 13,090 | 443 | 23 | 420 | 0 |
| 80 | Wallingford | 78.00 | 43,561 | 468 | 18 | 450 | 2 |
| 81 | Montville | 79.00 | 17,730 | 372 | 23 | 350 | 0 |
| 82 | Ridgefield | 79.00 | 24,924 | 305 | 24 | 281 | 1 |
| 83 | Wolcott | 80.00 | 16,379 | 201 | 24 | 177 | 0 |
| 84 | Bethel | 80.00 | 20,799 | 538 | 10 | 529 | 0 |
| 85 | Newtown | 81.00 | 27,890 | 369 | 18 | 351 | 0 |
| 86 | Madison | 82.50 | 17,458 | 309 | 17 | 292 | 0 |
| 87 | Cheshire | 83.00 | 29,399 | 398 | 14 | 384 | 0 |
| 88 | Plymouth | 83.50 | 11,806 | 500 | 8 | 491 | 0 |
| 89 | Easton | 83.75 | 7,652 | 523 | 0 | 523 | 0 |
| 90 | East Lyme | 84.50 | 19,094 | 424 | 10 | 414 | 1 |
| 91 | Thomaston | 84.75 | 7,523 | 518 | 0 | 518 | 0 |
| 92 | Redding | 86.00 | 8,716 | 298 | 11 | 287 | 0 |
| 93 | Portland | 87.25 | 9,449 | 434 | 0 | 434 | 0 |
| 94 | Weston | 92.25 | 10,353 | 222 | 0 | 222 | 0 |
Source: FBI UCR 2024. 94 cities with more than 7,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Locking It All Up In Connecticut
So what is the most dangerous city in Connecticut? After analyzing 94 cities in Connecticut, New Haven takes the top spot as the most dangerous city in Connecticut based on the most recently reported FBI data — 2024.
The latest FBI crime data shows that New Haven ranks as the most dangerous city in Connecticut for 2026.
The most dangerous cities in Connecticut are New Haven, Hamden, Hartford, Waterbury, Derby, New Britain, Bloomfield, Manchester, Trumbull, and Enfield.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in New Haven and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up. Not sold on Connecticut? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Most Dangerous Places To Live In Connecticut FAQs
Is Connecticut a dangerous state?
No, Connecticut is not a dangerous state as it ranks as the #8 safest state in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. The violent crime rate in Connecticut ranks 47th most dangerous in the United States — 50.9% better than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the Constitution State ranks 37th most dangerous in the United States — 19.92% better than US average property crime rate. The latest reporting year from the FBI was 2022.
Is Bridgeport, CT a dangerous city?
No, Bridgeport is not a dangerous city. Bridgeport ranks as the #45 safest out of 328 major cities over 100,000 people in the United States based on our analysis of the latest FBI Crime Data. Keep in mind that are always safe and dangerous parts of any city, so even though Bridgeport might be considered safe you still need to be aware of where you are.
Compared to other big cities, the violent crime rate in Bridgeport ranks 190th highest in America — 26.22% better than US average violent crime rate. The property crime rate in the ranks 298th highest in the United States — 54.49% better than US average property crime rate. Note the latest reporting year from the FBI was 2022 and that no city in America is ‘dangerous’. Despite the uptick in murders, it’s nothing like you’d see in Tijuana or Caracas where the murder rate is 2x any American city.
