The cost of living in Connecticut is relatively high, ranking as the eighth most expensive state in the country. To live comfortably in Connecticut, a single adult needs to earn around $39,526 per year before taxes.

Close to New York City and never far from the ocean, there are many reasons that you might want to move to Connecticut. The state’s good schools and low crime rates add to its desirability—but those benefits come with a price.

Jerry

, the trusted brokerage app for

home insurance

, has put together this guide to the cost of living in Connecticut. We’ll cover what you can expect to pay for things like food, housing, and transportation in Connecticut and compare the costs to the rest of the country. After that, we’ll even tell you how to save money on your Connecticut car insurance costs. Let’s get started.

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How high is the cost of living in Connecticut?

Connecticut may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of expensive states to live in. But, it ranks as the 8th most expensive state, with a cost of living index (CODI) of 127.7, just below Maryland with a CODI of 129.7, and just above New Jersey with a CODI of 125.1.

The cost of living index assesses several typical expenses and compares that to the US national average of 100. Any value less than 100 indicates a cheaper cost, and anything above 100 indicates a more expensive cost.

In other words, the cost of living in Connecticut is quite high, well above average in America. To illustrate what this looks like, let’s look at the cost of everyday expenses like food, housing, healthcare, and transportation.

Food: $324 per month

First, let’s look at one of the most fundamental expenses—food. And by this we mean necessities—so we’re looking at the cost of groceries as opposed to the food you’d eat out.

Using data from MIT’s

Living Wage Calculator

, the average cost of food for a single adult in Connecticut is $324 per month or $3,891 per year. Of course, the amount you have to pay for food increases drastically when you have other mouths to feed. The average cost of food for a family of four jumps to $954 per month or $11,446 per year.

For comparison, the Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the average monthly grocery expenditure in 2020 was $290 per month per person.

Healthcare: $648 per month

It is difficult to provide an accurate comparison of healthcare costs across populations. Of course, if you have a family member with a chronic illness, your healthcare costs will be higher.

That said, the average expenditure on healthcare in Connecticut in 2020 was $648 per month, compared to the national average expenditure of $584 per month.

Housing: $1,042 per month

The average cost of housing for an adult in Connecticut is $1,042 per month or $12,498 per year. To put this into comparisons that are a bit easier to grasp, let’s compare the monthly cost of different housing situations between Connecticut and the US average:

Median monthly mortgage payment: $2,096 (national median: $1,100)

Median one-bedroom apartment rent: $1,285 (national median: $1,048)

Median two-bedroom apartment rent: $1,577 (national median: $1,278)

Median three-bedroom apartment rent: $1,967 (national median: $1,681)

Median four-bedroom apartment rent: $2,261 (national median: $1,950)

Of course, these are all state-level averages, and there are considerable fluctuations between cities. These are all median values, so you can likely find housing for less than these averages.

To round out this comparison, let’s take a quick look at home costs. According to Zillow's “typical home values,” the typical value of a home in Connecticut is $361,501, while the typical home value nationally is $355,852.

Transportation: $354 per month

Many factors will affect how much you pay to get around in Connecticut, like what type of car you drive, whether you drive a car at all, and how far you have to commute for work.

The average single adult pays $354 per month on transportation, and the average two-person household pays $628 per month on transportation. The national average for transportation spending is $818 per month for a two-person household, so Connecticut tends to be cheaper in that regard.

To put these numbers into perspective, here are some figures related to transportation costs in Connecticut:

Average annual cost of car insurance in Connecticut: $3,056 to $3,309 (

liability

only vs. full coverage)

Average commute time: 24 minutes

Average cost of a gallon of gas (August 2022): 3.94 (US average: 3.87)

CT Transit 31-day pass: $63

MORE:

What are the car insurance laws in Connecticut?

How much you need to live comfortably in Connecticut: per year

Based on the number above, MIT’s living wage calculator estimated that to live comfortably in Connecticut a single adult needs to make $39,526 per year, before taxes, or $19.00 per hour. For a family of four, these earnings jump to $84,771 per year or $40.76 per hour!

Considering the minimum wage in Connecticut is $14.00 per hour, it’s clear that for some people living comfortably can be a challenge at best.

Plus, thus far we have been discussing the cost of living in Connecticut based on the essentials. Obviously, people spend money on far more than just necessities. To give an idea of how much some other everyday things cost, here is a list comparing the cost of some non-essentials in Connecticut with the US average:

Average cost of a date: $230 (US average: $116)

Average cost of a movie ticket: $10.89 (US average: $10.61)

Average cost of a Big Mac combo: $10.79 (US average: $8.64)

Average sales tax: 6.35%(US average: 5.09%)

MORE:

Best coffee in Connecticut

Connecticut cities with the lowest cost of living

The good news is that some cities in Connecticut are considerably more affordable than the state average. The bad news is that just about everywhere in Connecticut is going to cost more than the national average.

Here is a list of a handful of the most affordable cities in Connecticut with their cost of living index (COLI). To make for a more fair comparison, we only considered cities with a population above 25,000.

Enfield (COLI: 111.0): This cute little city in northern Connecticut tops our list of affordable places to live. Affordable housing, low crime rates, and quality schools make Enfield a great choice to put down roots for anyone looking to raise a family.

Waterbury (COLI: 112.0): The fifth largest city in Connecticut, nestled between New Haven and Hartford, Waterbury has surprisingly cheap housing for its size and location.

Bristol (COLI: 112.2): Bristol is a beaming town in central Connecticut that prides itself on its strong community. If you’re looking for a town that offers both an urban feel and the opportunity to relax lakeside, then consider Bristol.

New Britain (COLI: 112.2): New Britain is a city located just outside of Hartford that can make for a great place to call home for anyone looking for affordable housing with close access to an urban center.

Meriden (COLI: 112.2): Meriden is another small city tucked between New Haven and Hartford that offers a more affordable cost of living to anyone looking to live in the economic hub of southern Connecticut.

MORE: Connecticut renters insurance

How to easily find home and car insurance in Connecticut

If you’re looking into moving to Connecticut, you are going to have to update your insurance policies. Instead of just updating your address on your current policy, this is a great time to shop around for a new, cheaper policy. That’s where

Jerry

comes in.

Jerry is an insurance broker app that was designed to help make it as easy and effective as possible to compare insurance policies and find the cheapest options that meet your needs. With Jerry, you gain the power of machine learning on your side to sort through policies from our 50+ partner companies. Finding cheap insurance has never been so efficient.

All you have to do is answer a few questions and the app will handle the rest, providing you a tailored list of free quotes, and even making it easy to find bundling options for your

auto insurance

and

home

renters

insurance. If that wasn’t enough, you can even handle the paperwork in-app, so you don’t have to make any annoying phone calls to cancel your existing policy.

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was wonderful! I used it for my auto and renters policies. I trusted it so much that I signed up my homeowner's insurance under Jerry as well. All of the agents are amazingly nice and knowledgeable.” —Mary Y.

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