Western 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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Western region of Connecticut consists of 43 towns.

Who Lives Here?

With 616,000 people, Western region comprises about 17% 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. In Western region, 1 in 4 residents are under the age of 20.

  • 137,419 of the region's population, or about 23%, are youth under the age of 20.
  • 37%, or 217,347 of the region's 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.
  • 72% of people living in Western 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.

  • 21% of the White population, 28% of Black population, 24% of Asian 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 2016 - 2020 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 lowest to highest, 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 Western region, median income ranges greatly by town, from about $48,787 in Waterbury up to $160,258 in Ridgefield. Most towns in the region have median household income higher than that of the state (about $83,572 Median household income in 2021 dollars, 2017-2021), and in 24 towns 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 Western region, the unemployment rate is slightly below the state average. 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 332,203 people, or 53% of the total regional population that are considered in the labor force. Of those, 318,420 are employed, and 13,783 (≈ 4.1%) 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.

20%

of families in Western region are single-parent

With 38,819 single-parent families, Western region's

rate of single-parent households is 7% below state average of 27%.

Bridgewater, Hartland, Middlebury, Oxford, Redding, Ridgefield, and Roxbury have some of the lowest rates of single-parent families in the region, not exceeding 12%.

Danbury, Naugatuck, and Watertown have rates between 25% and 30%.

47%

of families in Waterbury are single-parent

Housing

Federally Subsidized Housing in Connecticut

Health-Related Indicators

Teen Birth Rate

  • In Western region, Waterbury has the highest teen birth rate of 26.4 births per 1,000 people. This is the highest rate in Connecticut. The state average is 8.9 teen births 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. Two towns—Norwalk and Stamford —have higher teen birth rates than the state, while also having median household income above that of Connecticut.

Infant Mortality

Infant mortality rates vary significantly by race. In the Western region, they are 4.3 deaths per 1,000 births for 2021. That is slightly lower than the state average of 4.7 deaths per 1,000 births. With 1.8 deaths per 1,000 births, the rate is lowest for White residents. For Black, the rate is 8.1, for Hispanic/Latino — 3.6.

A Black infant is 4 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
776
drug-related deaths in Central region. Of these,
0
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 Western region, there were 13,431 mental health admissions and 12,496 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.

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.

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.