New Canaan, CT real estate and demographic information

About New Canaan

New Canaan is a medium-sized town located in the state of Connecticut. With a population of 19,933 people and four constituent neighborhoods, New Canaan is the 55th largest community in Connecticut.

New Canaan home prices are not only among the most expensive in Connecticut, but New Canaan real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

New Canaan is a decidedly white-collar town, with fully 95.80% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, New Canaan is a town of managers, sales and office workers and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in New Canaan who work in management occupations (26.03%), sales jobs (20.77%) and business and financial occupations (12.91%).

Of important note, New Canaan is also a town of artists. New Canaan has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape New Canaan’s character.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 11.10% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

In addition, New Canaan is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates". Urban sophisticates are people who are both educated and wealthy, and thus tend to be older, richer, and more established than young professionals. "Urban sophisticates" is not just about being educated and well-off financially: it is a point of view and state of mind, one that you might call 'urbaneness'. But such people can and do regularly live in small towns, suburbs and rural areas, as well as in big cities. They read, support the arts and high-end shops, and love travel.

New Canaan is a good choice for families with children because of several factors. Many other families with children live here, making it a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic success. Many people own their own single-family homes, providing areas for children to play and stability in the community. Finally, New Canaan’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.

One downside of living in New Canaan, however, is that residents on average have to contend with a long commute, spending on average 30.78 minutes every day commuting to work. However, local public transit is widely used. For those who would prefer to avoid driving entirely and leave their car at home, it may be an option to use the transit instead.

In New Canaan, a lot of people use the train to get to work every day though New Canaan is a relatively small town. Those that ride the train are primarily traveling out of town to good jobs in other cities.

New Canaan Information and Demographics

If knowledge is power, New Canaan is a pretty powerful place. 76.10% of the adults in New Canaan have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in New Canaan in 2010 was $100,824, which is wealthy relative to Connecticut and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $403,296 for a family of four.

The people who call New Canaan home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of New Canaan residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in New Canaan include Irish, English, Italian, German and Russian.

The most common language spoken in New Canaan is English. Some people also speak Spanish.