New Haven and Hartford anchor the state's job market, but where jobs concentrate doesn't always match where businesses set up shop or where commercial property heavily shoulders local taxes, Hartford Business Journal reported.
Those divergences emerge from the Connecticut Commercial Opportunity Index, developed by the Yankee Institute in partnership with Hartford Business Journal. Published as part of HBJ’s 2026 Best Places for Business, the snapshots highlight individual measures rather than overall index scores.
New Haven Leads Total Jobs While Stamford Records Highest Business Count
Employment density and business counts tell two different stories about local economies.
| Rank | Municipality | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Haven | 84,498 |
| 2 | Hartford | 82,281 |
| 3 | Stamford | 71,615 |
| 4 | Bridgeport | 43,635 |
| 5 | Norwalk | 42,297 |
| 6 | Greenwich | 41,552 |
| 7 | Waterbury | 39,952 |
| 8 | Danbury | 39,070 |
| 9 | Groton | 32,684 |
| 10 | Stratford | 32,305 |
When measuring by the count of business establishments instead of total employment, the leaderboard shifts. Stamford leads the state with 18,305 business establishments, followed by Bridgeport with 12,707 and Greenwich with 12,695. Hartford places fourth with 11,494 establishments, while Norwalk records 11,145 and New Haven registers 10,684. Danbury counts 10,074 businesses, Glastonbury hosts 9,533, Fairfield accounts for 9,198, and Waterbury closes out the top ten with 8,581 establishments.
Bloomfield Ranks Highest for Commercial and Industrial Property Tax Base
The distribution of commercial and industrial property across local tax bases varies sharply by municipality. Bloomfield leads the state with 35 percent of its tax base comprised of commercial and industrial property, closely followed by New London at 34 percent and Windsor at 33 percent. Windham and Windsor Locks both record 31 percent, East Windsor stands at 30 percent, and New Haven registers 29 percent. North Haven and Rocky Hill tie at 28 percent, while Mansfield rounds out the top ten at 27 percent.
Property tax burdens, measured by five-year average real-property mill rates covering fiscal years 2022 through 2026, show an equally wide gap between municipalities.
| Rank | Highest Mill Rate Municipality | Five-Year Average Mill Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hartford | 70.02 |
| 2 | Hamden | 54.36 |
| 3 | Waterbury | 53.81 |
| 4 | Torrington | 45.54 |
| 5 | East Hartford | 44.56 |
| 6 | Naugatuck | 44.37 |
| 7 | Bridgeport | 43.45 |
| 8 | New Britain | 43.21 |
| 9 | West Hartford | 42.23 |
| 10 | Woodbridge | 42.11 |
Conversely, municipalities with the lowest average mill rates over the five-year period covering fiscal years 2022 through 2026. Salisbury records the lowest average at 11, followed by Greenwich at 11.6, Washington at 12.89, Sharon at 13, and Warren at 13.39. Roxbury averages 13.77, Cornwall stands at 15.43, Darien logs 16.37, Goshen records 17.38, and Sherman registers 17.53.
