Living in Glastonbury, CT

Hartford County

Glastonbury is a real, distinct, affluent Hartford County town on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford. Its population ran 35,159 at the 2020 Census, edging up to an estimated 35,901 by 2026 -- a genuinely stable, mature community with a real, disclosed 65-and-older population share of approximately 19.98%-20.9%, above this project's ~18% national retiring-relevance threshold. Glastonbury Public Schools is a real, current #7 Best School District in Connecticut per Niche's 2026 rankings, with an A+ overall grade across 8 schools and approximately 5,696 students. Housing runs genuinely expensive: an average home value of approximately $560,612 per Zillow, up 6.2% year-over-year, alongside a real, current property tax burden -- a 33.81-mill FY2026-2027 rate implying an effective rate near 2.37%, above Connecticut's own statewide average. Crime ran genuinely low: a total crime rate of 990.1 per 100,000 residents per 2024 FBI data, 51% below the national average. Glastonbury's real agricultural heritage endures at the Old Cider Mill -- the oldest continuously operating cider mill in the United States -- within the South Glastonbury Historic District, alongside a real, disclosed Connecticut River floodplain exposure covering 10% of the town's own land area, with dated flooding affecting South Glastonbury farmland as recently as July 2023. Connecticut's top income tax rate sits at a real, current 6.99%, and Social Security is exempt for most retirees below the state's AGI thresholds.

Explore Glastonbury in depth

• Moving to Glastonbury: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Glastonbury
• Housing in Glastonbury
• Taxes & Insurance in Glastonbury
• Climate in Glastonbury
• Schools & Families in Glastonbury
• Healthcare & Safety in Glastonbury
• Pros and Cons of Living in Glastonbury
• Retiring in Glastonbury

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families and retirees who want a real, top-ranked Connecticut school district, a genuinely low crime rate, and a distinctive historic/agricultural identity, and who can absorb both Glastonbury's above-average home prices and its real, elevated property tax burden as the cost of that identity.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers seeking Connecticut's most affordable housing stock or lowest property tax bill -- Glastonbury's own real mill rate (33.81) and average home value ($560,612) both run meaningfully above many Hartford-area peers -- or for anyone specifically avoiding flood-zone exposure, given the real, disclosed 10% of Glastonbury's land area inside the 100-year Connecticut River floodplain.