Suffield in Top 10 of Best Area Towns

Suffield was ranked ninth overall in the recently released Hartford Magazine's Top Towns issue, which rated 30 towns overall. Of the 10 small towns ranked, Suffield came in fourth.

The rankings used a formula including educational factors (student scores in reading, writing, math and science; graduation rate; and amount spent on education); economics (home prices, taxes and poverty rate); and quality of life (higher education of residents, voter turnout, median age of residents and population density).

Suffield's highest mark in the small town category was quality of life, ranked third. The town's economy took fourth place amongst small towns and Suffield's education system placed seventh.

Specific positive statistics included Suffield's percentage of owner-occupied property at 83.91 percent, a median head of household income of $84,721 and a median home sale price of $237,500.

“Greater Hartford is a fantastic place to live” said Rich Graziano, publisher and CEO of Hartford Magazine and CT1 Media. “The town-by-town information and rankings in this issue show the positives of what each town has to offer its residents and the region as a whole.”

Taking top honors overall this year is Simsbury, which offers great restaurants, golf, Colonial roots, and one of the top libraries in the state. It's also the only town in Connecticut to earn a “bike friendly” label from the League of American Bicyclists.

In addition to earning the top overall spot, Simsbury led the pack among medium-sized towns (population 15,000-30,000). Avon took second place, with Farmington and South Windsor tied for third, followed by Berlin, Rocky Hill, Windsor, Wethersfield, Bloomfield and Plainville.

Burlington won top honors among small towns (population under 15,000), followed by Granby, Marlborough, Suffield, East Granby, Canton and Hebron.

Glastonbury was the leader among large towns (population over 30,000), following by Middletown, West Hartford, Southington, Newington, Manchester, Enfield, East Hartford, New Britain and Hartford. 

The Top Town issues of Hartford Magazine issue will be available on newsstands Friday, June 1.