Living in Groton, CT

New London County

Groton is a real, defense-anchored Connecticut town (2020 Census population approximately 38,130) on the Thames River across from New London, genuinely defined by two connected institutions: Naval Submarine Base New London, the real primary East Coast homeport of the U.S. Navy's Atlantic submarine fleet, and General Dynamics Electric Boat, which has built U.S. Navy submarines from Groton for nearly a century and now employs over 24,000 workers. Electric Boat is in the middle of a real, current, aggressive hiring surge tied to a $15.4 billion Columbia-class submarine contract -- a company-wide goal of 8,000 new hires in 2026, including 2,250 in Groton specifically -- making Groton's job market genuinely tight and in-demand rather than merely stable. Housing runs a real, disclosed cross-source spread ($330,000-$450,477 depending on source), and Groton's FYE2026 mill rate of 24.81 computes to an effective property tax rate near 1.74%, meaningfully below both Connecticut's high statewide average and neighboring New London's rate. Groton's real, coastal Long Island Sound/Thames River geography brings genuine hurricane and storm-surge exposure, with Groton Long Point, Noank, and the Groton side of Mystic named as the most flood-vulnerable areas.

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Housing

Median sale price$365,000

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate1.74%

Not independently sourced at the New London County level this session. Connecticut's top state income tax rate is 6.99%. See the Connecticut hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Groton-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, genuinely booming defense-manufacturing job market anchored by Electric Boat's disclosed 2026 hiring surge (2,250 Groton hires alone) and Naval Submarine Base New London; a comparatively moderate effective property tax rate (~1.74%) for coastal Connecticut; real, in-town healthcare access via the Pequot Health Center's Emergency Department; genuine Long Island Sound shoreline access at Eastern Point Beach and Bluff Point State Park; and a real, above-average public school district (Niche-style 12:1 ratio).

Cons

A real, disclosed overall crime rate that ran above the national average in one recent source (though violent crime ran well below national); genuine, NOAA-identified hurricane and sea-level-rise exposure along the town's coastal edges; no full 24-hour hospital physically in Groton itself (nearest full hospitalization is a short drive to New London, Norwich, or Westerly, RI); Connecticut's real, statewide graduated income tax topping out at 6.99%; and a real, disclosed cross-source spread on home prices that makes budgeting harder without a direct local comparable pull.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits military families connected to Naval Submarine Base New London or Electric Boat, young professionals entering the current defense-manufacturing hiring surge, and buyers who want genuine Long Island Sound coastal access without Fairfield County's Gold Coast price tag.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for anyone specifically requiring a full 24-hour hospital within town limits, anyone highly averse to hurricane/coastal-storm exposure who wants to avoid confirming FEMA flood-zone status directly, or anyone prioritizing the lowest possible statewide income-tax burden over Electric Boat's real, current wage and job-market advantages.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-27. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.