[Parsec]

I visit my parents a lot in NJ so I travel through CT (from the Boston area) a lot. It would be nice to live closer to them. I've noticed that everywhere we've stopped has been very pretty -- even the highways are nice, except when I drive through Hartford. I think every 3rd car I see is a luxury car especially as I get near NYC. I know it's a rich state, so where does everyone work? It doesn't seem like there are any major cities in the state (but NYC is close). I'm in public accounting (auditor) and my wife's an engineer for a large defense contractor. Are there any jobs for us outside of the gold coast (i.e. Fairfield County) where houses are more affordable?

[glxyman21]

Other major cities in CT include Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Danbury. Jobs can be found anywhere in CT with secondary job markets in Waterbury, Middletown, Meriden and Bristol.

For more reasonable housing it would be best to look in Hartford Country or New Haven county as these two are the closest to the most job availability and the cities. The towns are more affordable than fairfield county, but not to say that there aren't towns that have high housing costs outside of it. What do you deem affordable and what size house/lot are you looking for.

[JayCT]

Hartford is the largest metro area in the State with about 1.2 million people. There are many employers here including major insurance companies like Aetna, Travelers and the Hartford; major defense manufacturers like Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sunstrand and humdreds of others. Other cities like Bridgeport and New Haven have similar employers. Jay

[WallStreetWarrior]

Yeah...I guess Jay covered it quite well. Simply put, if you have a degree in Finance or Engineering, you're likely to find work.

[sun]

There's not nearly as much manufacturing as there used to be before the last recession. Since then CT permanently experienced a net loss of about 50,000 manufacturing jobs.
But there are still many professional jobs in your family's chosen fields.
Here's the CT State Profile that lists the most recent employment demographics. While services is the largest category, I believe that it includes medical related occupations which, in some cities & towns, the hospitals are among the largest local employers.

http://www.cerc.com/pdfs/connecticut.pdf

[JayCT]

There are also major medical research facilities in Groton, Ridgefield, West Haven and Wallingford plus hundreds of smaller research facilities in the New Haven area. The casinos are very large employers as well. And the state is home to a number of major corporation corporate offices. Jay

[Parsec]

We're first time homebuyers, so affordable to us would be between $350-400k w/$4500/yr taxes (CT might be taxed higher than MA though). We'd be happy in anything w/3bd, 1.5ba and 1600 s.f. on a 15k lot. We'd also like to be in a diverse environment w/decent (above average) schools and things to do culturally like museums and playhouses. Does that put us within commuting distance (1 hour in rush hour) of NYC? If not, I guess New Haven or Hartford counties would be fine too.

[skytrekker]

You can buy a new home in towns like Ellington, Vernon 3 bedrooms 2 baths, garage starting in the mid to upper 200 thousands.
1700 square feet, small lot.

[JayCT]

You could buy a modest home in Fairfield (about 70 minutes from Manhatten by train) for $350-400k but the taxes would probably be higher than $4500 (keep in mind that in CT you pay taxes on your autos as well). In the New Haven and Hartford areas, that same price would get you a larger and nicer home but again the taxes would be higher. And as skytrekker said, you can get a pretty nice home in the outer suburbs of Hartford east of the Connecticut River for that price.

Glastonbury is a very nice upscale suburb a few miles southeast of Hartford. It has excellent schools and good shopping and restaurants. It is an excellent place to raise a family and is considered one of Hartford's most desirable suburbs. For $350-400K, you could get a nice 25 year old, 3 or 4 bedroom, 2 bath colonial with a one or two car garage on a 1/3 of an acre here. The taxes would be a bit higher than $4500. Jay

[Parsec]

Are there any websites that gives me info on different school districts, rankings, test scores, etc..? I used greatschools.net for MA and NJ, but it doesn't seem to give as much info for CT.