Hartford, CT
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Hartford ranks 45th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 41st for income. A household earns $94,419 a year while median rent runs $1,458/mo, making it comfortably affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 3% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is health (33rd of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (257th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 198th and home prices 197th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Hartford, your take-home is worth about $56,390 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 41st of 300↑22.6%$94,419
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 257th of 300103 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $91,896
- Per-capita income
- $52,106
- Full-time pay
- $52,793
Housing
- Median rent
- 198th of 300↑31%$1,458/mo
- Home value
- 197th of 300↑44.5%$367,100
- Property tax
- $6,387/yr · 1.7%
- Sales tax
- 6.35%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 176th of 3004.7%
- Bachelor's+
- 46th of 30043.2%
- Avg commute
- 156th of 30024.3 min
People
- Population
- 1,169,048
- Population change
- -3%
- Median age
- 40.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 13.9%
- Broadband
- 93.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 68th of 30040
- Natural-hazard loss
- 162nd of 300$13/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 33rd of 30015.7%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — hartford brainard fld.
What jobs pay in Hartford
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $171,350
- Financial managers
- $170,310
- Lawyers
- $157,200
- Family medicine physicians
- $148,850
- General & operations managers
- $148,080
- Pharmacists
- $134,340
- Software developers
- $132,520
- Civil engineers
- $103,650
- Registered nurses
- $101,470
- Accountants & auditors
- $95,940
- Web developers
- $93,000
- Police officers
- $82,660
- Secondary school teachers
- $80,710
- Elementary school teachers
- $79,800
- Electricians
- $77,680
- Plumbers
- $77,190
- Carpenters
- $64,770
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,890
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $58,670
- Construction laborers
- $56,280
- Customer service reps
- $48,050
- Janitors
- $37,400
- Waiters & waitresses
- $37,200
- Retail salespersons
- $35,720
- Cashiers
- $35,180
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Cities like Hartford
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Hartford metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Hartford metro?
- Median gross rent across the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area is $1,458 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Hartford.
- What is the median household income in the Hartford metro?
- A typical household in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area earns $94,419 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Hartford expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area runs about 3% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Hartford metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $91,896 (versus its face value of $94,419). CityLedger rates the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area comfortably affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Hartford metro?
- The median home value across the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area is $367,100 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Hartford metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT Metro Area is 4.7% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).