A Quicker Way to Find Connecticut Data: 2019 Town Profiles Released

When deciding what outfit to wear today, we check the weather. When we want to try a new restaurant, we check Yelp. When we want to see how well we slept last night (or how much coffee we’ll need this morning), we check our FitBit to see our sleep patterns. All of these decisions require one key component: data. Data informs decisions of all types. Whether you’re looking for a new place to move, need stats to strengthen your upcoming article, or want to understand the community’s needs that your organization serves, data can bridge the gap between a hunch and a strong, well-supported claim. 

While we know the importance of data literacy and have programs to empower people to use data across the state, we also understand that before you can use data to inform your decisions, you need to find it first. Aside from offering over 200 datasets on our website, we also have another resource for your data toolkit—the 2019 Town Profiles. Since 2016, CTData has partnered with AdvanceCT (formerly known as the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. or CERC) to publish these reports about the municipalities, regions, and entire state of Connecticut. 

Town Profiles provide important demographic and economic information including total population, education, labor force, major employers, government, housing, and quality of life. The reports allow users to hone in on specific municipalities while comparing them to the county and state. We host all of the datasets used in the report on our website, and some of the original sources include the American Community Survey 2013-2017 5-year estimates, the CT Department of Labor, and the state’s Office of Policy and Management.

These reports provide a plethora of information in just two pages, broken down by category to prevent a serious case of statistical overwhelm. Let’s take a look at some questions that our town profiles can answer about our capital city, Hartford:

Has Hartford’s population got any bigger, and how does this compare to the rest of the state? 

If you live in Connecticut, you know that the topic of population doesn’t stray too far from the headlines. From 2017 to 2020, Hartford has experienced a 0.5% population growth and is now counted at 126,443 residents. This percentage is larger than the 0.1% population growth that Connecticut has experienced overall since 2017. 

What’s the median age of Hartford residents?

With a median age of 31, Hartford has a younger demographic compared to the county and state. Hartford’s median age is nine years younger than the county’s median age, and ten years younger than the state’s. The age group with the highest percent of the population (28%) are those age 25-44. 

Which sector has the highest number of employees, and who are the major employers in Hartford? 

With a nickname like “insurance capital of the world,” it’s no surprise that the finance and insurance sector employs over 22,000 people. However, this sector doesn’t take the lead for the highest number of employees—that crown belongs to health care and social assistance which touts 24,000 employees. This is reflected by the major employers, with Hartford Hartford Hospital, Aetna, Travelers, and The Hartford all topping the list. 

What’s the median price for housing and rent in the city?

Hartford rings in at $162,300 for median home value and $935 for rent. This is actually lower than the state’s median home value of $270,100 and rent of $1,123. However, 57.1% of Hartford’s renters are cost-burdened, which means they spend over 30% of their income on rent compared to 52.3% percent of total renters in the state. 

CTData commits to connecting you to the data you need and supporting you at every stage of your research. We believe everyone is a data person, even if you don’t know it yet! You can access our Town Profiles here and also tons of helpful resources on our Data by Topic page. If you’d like to boost your data literacy and network with other data users, join us for one of our upcoming events. To keep up with the work we’re doing, as well as other updates from the data world, subscribe to our monthly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.