Awards

• On Friday, April 17, MSN published a list of the best towns to live in each of the 50 states. The article stated, “West Hartford stands out as an exceptional place to live, celebrated for its blend of charm, strong community ties, and a high quality of life. This vibrant town offers residents a unique blend of historic character and modern amenities.” To read the full article [See slide 30], visit https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/the-best-place-to-live-in-every-state/ss-AA217SNf?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds

• On Monday, March 23, 2026, Niche published its annual rankings of Best Places to Live in America. West Hartford was ranked #1 in Hartford County, #2 in Connecticut (behind Old Greenwich), and #524 as the Best Suburb to Live in America. West Hartford’s overall grade was A+. The ranking includes 230 cities and 18,000 towns, suburbs, and neighborhoods.

• MoveBuddha, a technology company with tools to make it easier for people to move and relocate, was on a quest to find 2025’s Most Popular College Town. The question was, “Where are the towns where students can turn campus traditions into lifelong community ties?” The answer: West Hartford, CT, topping the list as America’s #1 college boomtown.  MoveBuddha whittled down a list of 650 college towns to 34 standout cities where, in 2025, more people are moving in than out, and fewer residents over 16 are unemployed than the national average. “West Hartford is a bright spot off the beaten path, with a sky-high rate of newcomers seeking to move in versus those looking to leave. And once they settle in, most residents find they can walk to shops, including tree-lined streets that offer up everything from wine bars to bakeries.” Click the link to read the article: https://www.movebuddha.com/blog/2025-most-popular-college-towns/

• U.S. News & World Report released its Best Places to Live rankings, and West Hartford was ranked #19 in the nation, #1 in Connecticut, and #1 in the Northeast! For the 2025-2026 Best Places to Live rankings, 859 cities were selected and rated. 

• Realtor.com listed West Hartford as #12 in its “Best Small Cities To Enjoy Amazing Quality of Life.” 

• MONEY magazine announced West Hartford was ranked in the Top 50 Best Places to Live in the United States for towns and cities with populations of 50,000 or greater.  West Hartford was the only Connecticut town/city to make the Top 50 list and was one of three in New England. 

To compile the ranking, MONEY magazine starts with a list of all U.S. towns and cities with populations of 50,000 or greater. The pool is then narrowed to 583 cities using 135,000 data points across the following categories: economic health, cost of living, diversity, public education, income, crime, ease of living, and amenities. The greatest weight is placed on economic health, public school performance, and local amenities; housing, cost of living, and diversity were also critical components.

• Zippia.com named West Hartford the best city for remote workers to call home in Connecticut.  Zippia .com set out to uncover the most affordable cities with speedy internet. West Hartford has everything remote workers need to thrive.
   
• Livability.com has released its annual Top 100 Best Places to Live list, and West Hartford made the list, the only city in Connecticut to do so. More than 2,300 cities with populations between 20,000 and 350,000 were ranked on 40 data points measuring economics, housing, amenities, infrastructure, demographics, social and civic capital, education, and health care. West Hartford earns high marks in education, healthcare, and technology, and the city is becoming a summertime tourism destination with excellent restaurants and high-end shopping choices.
   
• RENTCafe.com conducted a study on the best and worst U.S. metros to live in, by profession. RENTCafe.com calculated the average amount of money left each year for 21 major professional occupations in the top 100 most populous U.S. metros by subtracting the average cost of living per metro from the average net income per professional field. The Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford metro ranks in the top 10 best metros to live in for 12 different professional fields. Here are our key findings:

#1 Best Metro to live in for Office & Administrative Support workers. People in this professional field are left with $12,200 each year after covering the basic living expenses
#3 Best Metro for Building & Grounds Cleaning & Maintenance (+$3,400/year)
#4 Best Metro for Community & Social Service (+$19,800/year)
#4 Best Metro for Education, Training, & Library (+$24,900/year)
#5 Best Metro for Protective Service (+$19,500/year)
#5 Best Metro for Life, Physical, & Social Science (+$38,200/year)
#5 Best Metro for Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, & Media (+$22,300/year)
#6 Best Metro for Business & Financial Operations (+$36,600/year)
#6 Best Metro for Installation, Maintenance, & Repair (+$18,400/year)
#9 Best Metro for Production (+$11,200/year)
#10 Best Metro for Computer & Mathematical (+$47,900/year)

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census, the Tax Foundation, and the MIT Living Wage Calculator were used for the study. Read the full study and methodology.

• The Crazy Tourist featured West Hartford among the 15 Best Places to Live in Connecticut.
   
• SafeWise ranked West Hartford on its Top 20 Safest Cities in Connecticut based on FBI crime report statistics and population data. SafeWise also ranked West Hartford #13 in the nation for Safest College Towns in America.
   
• Kiplinger's Finance Magazine ranking of Best Cities in the Nation for the Next Decade focused on places that specialized in out-of-the-box thinking. It became clear that West Hartford had three elements of the innovation factor: smart people, great ideas, and collaboration. Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine also selected West Hartford for its Top 10 Great Cities for Raising Families. West Hartford was selected because of its low crime, top-ranked schools (public and private), proximity to major cities, range of parks and historic sites, and vibrant downtown.
   
• Family Circle magazine named West Hartford one of America's 10 Best Towns for Families.
   
• Hartford Magazine ranked towns in the Greater Hartford region, and West Hartford came out #1 Overall, #1 in the large town category, #1 Best for Families, #1 Best for Seniors, #1 Most Affluent, and #1 Most Educated.

• The William H. Hall High School Concert Jazz Band was again named one of the country’s top 20 high school jazz bands and is now headed to New York City to compete for the 15th time in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition on April 30-May 2, 2026. We wish them good luck!

• West Hartford Public Schools has announced that the Connecticut Association of Schools has recognized Conard High School with its top honor – 2026 CAS High School of the Year. To be considered a nominee for the award, a school must achieve excellence across a broad range of rigorous standards and demonstrate best practices. Congratulations to the teachers, staff, and students at Conard High School.

• Four West Hartford residents have been inducted into the Connecticut Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, representing both girls and boys teams. They are Bruce Woolley, former Hall/Conard coach; Emily Corrales, former player; John Grisevich, captain of Conard’s 1985 boys’ hockey team; and the late Frank D’Annolfo, coach of the 1985 hockey team.

• In September 2026, Niche announced that Conard and Hall High Schools were once again among the Top 50 public high schools in Connecticut, according to their rankings of Best High Schools in America. Conard High School is ranked #18 in Connecticut and #7 in the Hartford Area. Hall High School is ranked #16 in Connecticut and #5 in the Hartford Area. 

• In the 2024 U.S. News & World Report for Best High Schools in the nation, both Conard and Hall high schools received GOLD medals (500 awarded out of over 29,000 schools measured), and, fittingly, were ranked right next to each other, almost as twins, even in the national rankings. The ranking in the nation was Hall #362, Conard #564, and in Connecticut, Hall #6 and Conard #10.

TravelandLeisure.com on-line magazine said West Hartford is “One of the Coolest Suburbs Worth a Visit.” The West Hartford Reservoir was called “West Hartford’s version of Central Park! The magazine also noted the town’s vacation-worthy hot spots with cutting-edge restaurants, great shopping, and plenty of parking.

West Hartford was named a “Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community” by The League of American Bicyclists (2017-2020).  The Bronze award recognizes West Hartford’s commitment to improving conditions for bicycling through promotion, education, infrastructure and pro-bicycling policies.

Hartford Magazine’s  “Best of Hartford” edition readers rated the West Hartford Public Library as #1 library in the Greater Hartford area.

Movoto, an online real estate brokerage firm that is known for its unique approach to city-based research by major news organizations such as Forbes and U.S. News, published a ranking of the 10 best places to live in Connecticut with a population of over 10,000.  West Hartford was noted for its lower than average commute times and for its overall excellent quality of life score.  The Top 10 towns were ranked on total amenities, quality of life, crime, and weather.

Online PhD Programs created a list of the Top 101 cities with the most people having Doctorate degrees in American urban centers with populations of 50,000 or more. West Hartford ranked #46 in the nation!

The agency stated “the appeal of West Hartford for doctorate holders perhaps lies as much in the town’s location and sense of community as it does in the area’s academic opportunities.”

Retirement can present a chance for Americans to meet new people and enjoy new experiences. According to a recent study by SmartAsset, West Hartford is among the best places in Connecticut for retirement. The study factors in the number of recreation centers and retirement centers available to seniors as well as the percentage of the city’s population they represent.

Connecticut Magazine rated West Hartford among the 20 Great Places to Retire in Connecticut.  The article states, “This exemplary inner-ring suburb has reinvented itself with a colorful array of shops, restaurants, amusements and even a new 20-acre multipurpose commercial/residential development called Blue Back Square.”

Since 1974, Moody's Investor Services and Standard & Poors, the nation’s largest bond rating agencies, assigned their highest ratings, Aaa and AAA, to the Town of West Hartford’s general obligation bonds. The triple A rating is the highest rating given by the agencies and is based on the town's strength of management and conservative financial practices. West Hartford is one of only a few towns in the United States to hold the coveted Aaa/AAA ratings from both agencies.  Even fewer have maintained such ratings since 1974.