Central Connecticut

Data Story

This story will walk you through who lives here, who works here, about some of their educational experiences, and health outcomes. We also highlight why these data are important and how you can use them.

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Central region of Connecticut consists of 16 towns.

Who Lives Here?

With over 497,000 people, the region comprises about 14% of total state population.

Population by Age

Population data help us understand the ages and stages of Connecticut residents. When we understand who we are, we can guide and direct services and supports based on need. About 23% of Central region residents are under the age of 20.

  • 109,035 of the region's population, or about 23%, are youth under the age of 20.
  • 39%, or 183,200 residents, are considered "prime working age", that is, adults between 25 and 54 years old.

Population by Race/Ethnicity

  • We combined people of all races who self-identified their Hispanic ethnicity under Hispanic or Latino group, and subtracted the respective counts from all races. This way, we did not double count, and all 6 groups in the chart above sum up to the total regional population.
  • Similarly, none of the races overlap with Two or More Races group.
  • 69%, of people living in the Central region are self-identified as White Alone, which is above the state value of 65%.

Share of Young People by Race/Ethnicity

The share of young people (under the age of 20) for each ethnicity varies.

  • 20% of White population, 29% of Black population, and 35% of Hispanic population are young people.
  • 43% of residents who belong to two or more races are under the age of 20.

Children in Poverty

We present only the Connecticut data, because margins of errors for some smaller towns are high. Data is from 2017 - 2021 ACS.

In Connecticut,
  • About 27% of Hispanic children;
  • About 23% of Black children;
  • About 14% of children of two or more races;
  • About 9% of Asian children, and
  • About 6% of White non-Hispanic children live at or below poverty line.

Explore poverty data by town at data.ctdata.org.

27%

of Hispanic children in Connecticut live
at or below poverty line, compared to 6% of white non-Hispanic children

Households

Median Income

When all the household earnings are lined up from highest to lowest, the median represents the income of the middle household. This graph shows the range of income disparities that exists by town in the region.

In Central region, median income ranges greatly by town, from about $59,792 in Meriden up to $143,038 in Burlington. 3 towns have median household income lower than that of the state (about $83,572 Median household income in 2021 dollars, 2017-2021), and in 7 towns—Burlington, Simsbury, and Avon, Berlin, Southington, —it exceeds $100,000.

Cost-burdened Households

Percent of Households in Each Town
When members of a household spend the lion's share of their paychecks on housing costs such as rent, they come up short for other bills that cover basic needs.
Households are considered cost-burdened if they spend over 30% of their income on housing costs.

Unemployment

Unemployment rates provide some idea of whether people are actively working. In the Central region, the unemployment rate is slightly lower than the state average (≈ 4.1% to 4.2% respectively). This means the share of people working or looking for work is holding steady compared with all of Connecticut. The unemployment rate for the region masks some inequality across towns.

There are about 279,139 people that are considered in the labor force. Of those, 267,617 are employed, and 11,522 are unemployed.

Single-Parent Families

Households with one parent are at a disadvantage in a few ways when compared with two-parent households. There are fewer earners which means less income to spend on basic needs. There is a greater need for childcare to make sure adults can work and childcare comes at a great cost. ACS 2017 - 2021 data below.

21%

of families in Central region are single-parent

With 34,051 single-parent families, Central region's

rate of single-parent households is below the state average of 27%.

In Avon, under 10% of families are single-parent, representing the lowest in the region.

46.8%

of families in New Britain are single-parent, representing the highest in the region.

Schools

In 2022-2023, there were
65,693
students enrolled in public schools in the Central region.

The data below are presented as where the student attends school, not necessarily the town where the student lives.

Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity

Housing

Federally Subsidized Housing in Connecticut

The map shows housing units that participate in at least one subsidy program, according to the National Housing Preservation Database.
This is not an exhaustive list of affordable housing units in Connecticut.

Health-Related Indicators

Teen Birth Rate

  • In Central region, three towns — New Britain, Meriden, and Bristol — have teen birth rates higher than that of the state (8.9 per 1,000 people).
*as of 9/22/23 new data not available by DPH

Teen Birth Rate vs Median Household Income

In general, towns with higher median household income tend to have lower teen birth rates, and vice versa.

Infant Mortality

Infant mortality rates vary significantly by race. In the Central region, they are 5.8 deaths per 1,000 births for 2021. That is slightly higher than the state average of 4.7 deaths per 1,000 births. With 4.2 deaths per 1,000 births, the rate is lowest for White residents. For Hispanic and Latino, the rate is 8.6, for Black — 5.6.

A Hispanic/Latino infant is 2 times as likely to die as a White infant.

Disparate outcomes by race signal institutional biases. This indicator identifies that a different service model may be required to impact the disparities.



Suicide

2015-2019 Suicides in Connecticut by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Race/Ethnicity Female Male Total Rate
(Total, per 100,000 people)
  • White Non-Hispanic people are more likely to commit suicide than Black or Hispanic people.
  • In general, males are nearly 3 times more likely to die of suicide than females.

Substance Use

In 2021, there were
650
drug-related deaths in Central region. Of these,
6
happened to those under 21.

Treatment Admissions for Mental Health and Substance Use

The data below are from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and include admissions to both public and private programs.

In the Central region, there were 1,954 mental health admissions and 4,051 substance use admissions.

Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)

Child abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is the key federal legislation that guides child protective services programming nationwide. The most recent reauthorization of CAPTA requires hospitals to notify state child welfare agencies when an infant is born prenatally exposed to substances. Family Care Plans are then developed to support access to a broad range of social, medical, developmental and behavioral health services and supports for these vulnerable infants and their families.

For more information, visit: https://portal.ct.gov/DCF/CAPTA/HOME

Child Protection Service Report After CAPTA NOTIFICATION

Child Protection Service Report After CAPTA NOTIFICATION

These data indicate whether a referral was made to Child Protective Services. Note: 2022 Data will be available by December 2023

Family Care Plans

Family Care Plans

These data show how many families received a Family Care Plan for babies born exposed to substances before birth. Note: 2022 Data will be available by December 2023

Statewide Map of Resources

Connecticut Department of Children and Families offices and facilities, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) authorized retailers, substance use care facilities, and WIC authorized food stores and pharmacies.



About


Family Illustration This data story was developed with support from the CONNECTing Children and Families to Care, a statewide initiative to create a partnership between families, state agencies, and service providers at the local, regional, and state levels. To learn more about this project, watch a short video in English (or in Spanish).

More Data!

Throughout the story, you can use links under visualizations to view relevant datasets. Alternatively, you can visit data.ctdata.org and search for datasets with town-level data.

Further Reading and Materials

Community Resources

  • WrapCT.org developed out of a decade of System of Care improvements, including ongoing training and coaching through Care Coordination and the Child and Family Team Wraparound process. The primary goal of this Learning Collaborative to transform and energize the local Community Collaboratives/ Systems of Care to support workforce development in the Wraparound process and to improve the support and care that youth and families receive.
  • HealthyLivesCT.org provides information and tools for maintaining or regaining wellness in the areas of emotional wellness, physical wellness, holistic wellness, financial wellness, and recovery from addiction issues.
  • 211ct.org is a one-stop connection to the local services you need, from utility assistance, food, housing, child care, after school programs, elder care, crisis intervention and much more.