Counties / Connecticut / South Central Connecticut Planning Region

South Central Connecticut Planning Region, CT

FIPS 09170 · population 570,598 · part of New Haven, CT

$353k
ACS owner-reported value · ACS 2024 5-year
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

ACS owner-reported value
$353k
survey estimate; not a current listing or sale price
Census ACS · surveyed
ACS median gross rent
$1,525
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,969
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulative+60.9%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVIperiod n/an/aFHFA HPI2025+6.3%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$353k
Surveyed gross rent$1,525
Rent burden 30%+53.5%
Median year built1964
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
7.1%vacant
248,267estimated housing units
Occupied tenure39.5% renter
owner 60.5%renter 39.5%
Structure mix58.8% single-family
Single-family 58.8%20+ units 12.8%Mobile home 0.4%Other 28.0%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs278,598▼ 1.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments21,116annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,538▲ 5.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services34.6% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.2%WEEKLY WAGE+5.9%Education and health services34.6%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

The underwriting tension is appreciation in one measure against softer MLS asking evidence. FHFA’s 2025 annual record shows HPI up 6.31% year over year and 60.94% over its supplied five-year interval; these are index changes, not values. Realtor.com’s separate 2026-06 snapshot shows median listing prices down 8.75% and active listings up 22.19%. The mismatch merits closed-sale and parcel-level investigation; cautious buyers should not average the vintages or treat either as a closed-sale trend.

02Housing economics

Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s $1,969 two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not asking rent. ACS reports $1,525 median gross rent for occupied units and $353,100 median value for owner-occupied homes, but these medians describe different populations and neither is current asking evidence; do not combine them into yield. The 1.91% effective property-tax rate and $6,759 median annual tax are direct carrying-cost checks. Property-level expenses, insurance, utilities, repairs, and lease terms are missing.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed, not a clean growth case. Tax-return households produced net migration of -1,172, while the supplied AGI gap is -$8,829, with outbound movers higher than inbound; that is a composition concern, not proof of future demand. QCEW’s annual covered workplace employment fell 1.19% while average weekly wage rose 5.92%; Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Investor mortgages were 9.58% of 4,980 purchases, showing participation but not dominance. Realtor.com listing and pending measures are visible-market signals, not proof of completed demand.

04Risk & next checks

Risk review should start with inland flood, the dominant hazard. The modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.15% of building value expected lost per year, but it is not a dollar loss and cannot replace parcel flood maps, elevation, drainage, insurance quotes, deductibles, or lender requirements. The record lacks market rent, closed-sale comps, property condition, and submarket vacancy, preventing defensible rent, expense, or exit-price underwriting. Next checks: unit-level rent or comparable leases, recent closed transactions, tax and insurance bills, flood-zone documentation, and property-level fit; county evidence is not proof of metro or property representativeness.

Cities & communities

Where people live within South Central Connecticut Planning Region

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
New Haven city134.3KMeriden city60.5KWest Haven city55.4KMilford city (balance)51KEast Haven CDP27.8KNorth Haven CDP24.3KWallingford Center CDP18.2KOrange CDP14.3K
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

14 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    New Haven cityIncorporated place
    134,349
  2. 02
    Meriden cityIncorporated place
    60,545
  3. 03
    West Haven cityIncorporated place
    55,351
  4. 04
    Milford city (balance)Census place
    51,023
  5. 05
    East Haven CDPCensus-designated place
    27,806
  6. 06
    North Haven CDPCensus-designated place
    24,336
  7. 07
    Wallingford Center CDPCensus-designated place
    18,208
  8. 08
    Orange CDPCensus-designated place
    14,315
  9. 09
    Branford Center CDPCensus-designated place
    6,305
  10. 10
    Northford CDPCensus-designated place
    6,186
  11. 11
    Quinnipiac University CDPCensus-designated place
    4,311
  12. 12
    Guilford Center CDPCensus-designated place
    2,263
Show 2 more places
  1. 13
    Madison Center CDPCensus-designated place
    1,981
  2. 14
    Woodmont boroughIncorporated place
    1,661

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.155% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.91%

$6,759 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-1,172

13,287 in · 14,459 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$8,829

$74,908 arriving · $83,737 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors9.6%

477 of 4,980 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings755▲ 22.2% year over year
Median days on market35▼ 5.4% year over year
Listings price-reduced11.5%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 8.8% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; for a rent figure, the New Haven, CT page covers the wider market.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Appreciation index and MLS asking-price change use different methods and periods, so the acquisition price may not match the apparent trend.
  2. No published market rent or property-level operating costs prevents a defensible yield and cash-flow test.
  3. Inland-flood exposure and missing parcel-level insurance and condition data could make carrying costs and loss exposure differ from county evidence.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market rent is not published; HUD FMR is a payment standard, and ACS gross rent cannot be used as current market rent or combined with ACS home value.

What labor evidence is available?

QCEW supplies annual covered workplace employment and average weekly wage; employment declined while wages rose, and Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector.

What hazard should parcel diligence prioritize?

Inland flood is the dominant hazard. The record supplies a modeled climate-loss ratio but no parcel-level flood, insurance, or lender data.