Property Crime in Connecticut

With low poverty rates and high average income, Connecticut is an attractive place for many people considering relocating or putting down roots in a new community. Whether they buy or rent, making sure they can keep their investment secure is an important concern and could be the deciding factor.

Connecticut is one of the best states when it comes to the frequency of property crime, according to the most recent available data. Crimes like theft and burglary are less common in Connecticut than in the U.S. overall.

Let’s explore in detail how common property crimes are in Connecticut, how rates have changed over time, and which communities in the state have the lowest (and highest) rates of property crimes.

Want to learn more about our data? Click here.

At A Glance:

    • With #1 being the best, Connecticut is ranked #9 for property crime out of 50 states + Washington, D.C.
    • You have a 1.43% chance of being a property crime victim in Connecticut in the next 12 months.
    • Connecticut’s property crime rate is 32% lower than the average crime rate in the United States.
    • New Haven has the highest property crime rate in Connecticut (37.99 incidents per 1,000 people).
  • New Haven, the second-largest city in Connecticut, is home to the Yale University campus and has a robust commercial sector. Highly populated areas and those with major commercial sectors tend to have higher property crime rates, which likely accounts for New Haven’s property crime rate, which is more than double the state’s overall rate.

Only eight states have lower population-adjusted rates of property crime than Connecticut, and the overall U.S. rate is almost seven points higher than Connecticut’s rate.

Connecticut’s Most Current Property Crime Rates (2019)

  • Rate of Property Crime
    • Connecticut average:: 14.27 crimes per 1,000 people
    • National average: 21.1 crimes per 1,000 people

Like all but two states (Alaska and North Dakota), Connecticut’s property crime rate declined between 2010 and 2019, dropping by 35 percent, which is higher than the average decline. Additionally, the property crime rate in 2019 was the lowest over the past decade.

Connecticut’s Overall Property Crime Trends (2010 – 2019)

    • Average Rate of Property Crime:
      • Connecticut 10-year average: 18.91 crimes per 1,000 people
      • National 10-year average: 25.61 crimes per 1,000 people
    • -35% Has property crime increased or decreased during this time?
      • There was a 35% decrease in property crime in Connecticut between 2010 and 2019.
    • 2010 Which year had the highest rate of property crime in Connecticut?:
      • The highest rate of property crime in Connecticut was 2010 (21.88 crimes per 1,000 people)
    • 2019 Which year had the lowest rate of property crime in Connecticut?:
      • The lowest rate of property crime was 2019 (14.27 crimes per 1,000 people)

What incidents fall under the umbrella of property crime? Burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson are the four major property crime categories reported by the FBI. In every case, if the incident involves violence or threats of violence, it no longer is a property crime and is classified as a violent crime.

Connecticut’s Property Crime Category Trends (2010 – 2019)

      • Which type of property crime occurred the most in Connecticut over the past decade?
        • Larceny occurred more than any other property crime at a rate of 13.88 crimes per 1,000 people.
        • Average property crime rate by category
          • Average burglary rate: 3.18 crimes per 1,000 people
          • Average larceny rate: 13.88 crimes per 1,000 people
          • Average vehicle crime rate: 1.85 crimes per 1,000 people
          • Average arson rate: 0.09 crimes per 1,000 people
        • Note: There were no FBI estimates for arson rates, so we used all available data that was reported by individual cities in Connecticut.
      • +11% Which types of property crime have increased during this time period?
        • No types of property crime have increased their rates in Connecticut over the past decade, but rates of vehicle theft fell at the slowest rate, 11%.
      • -57% Which types of property crime have decreased during this time period?
        • The biggest decline was in the burglary rate, which fell 57% from 2010.

Crime and its drivers are a complex and hyperlocal topic. Many researchers have pointed to factors like poverty, unemployment, and urbanization as reasons why property crime rates might be high in some areas.

Related statistics in Connecticut are a mixed bag. On the one hand, only 10 percent of the state’s residents live in poverty, which is one of the lowest rates, but the state’s unemployment rate of about eight percent in April 2021 is one of the nation’s highest. Urbanization has risen in Connecticut over the past few decades, but the rate of increase has slowed considerably since 2000; today, 88 percent of residents live in urban areas. This rate is largely consistent with neighboring states.

Exploring state-level statistics can only get you so far, even in a geographically small state like Connecticut. That’s because even within the same county, property crime rates vary from town to town. For example, Madison has a property crime rate of about four per 1,000 people, but it’s in the same county as New Haven, which leads the state in property crime, as well as Waterbury (second) and Orange (fourth). Weston has the state’s lowest property crime rate (1.46 per 1,000).

Top 5: Best Property Crime Rates (based on 2019 data):

  • Weston, Connecticut (Fairfield County)
  • Newtown, Connecticut (Fairfield County)
  • Plainfield, Connecticut (Windham County)
  • Ridgefield, Connecticut (Fairfield County)
  • Madison, Connecticut (New Haven County)

Bottom 5: Worst Property Crime Rates (based on 2019 data):

  • New Haven, Connecticut (New Haven County)
  • Waterbury, Connecticut (New Haven County)
  • Hartford, Connecticut (Hartford County)
  • Orange, Connecticut (New Haven County)
  • Cromwell, Connecticut (Middlesex County)