About one in 12 people in Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut, lives below the poverty line
In Northwest Hills Planning Region, 8.6% of people lived below the poverty line. That is lower than in 88% of U.S. counties.
Less distressed than 57% of U.S. counties.
What drives Northwest Hills Planning Region's score
In Northwest Hills Planning Region, collections and bankruptcy is the highest-scoring part, at 59.5. Income and the safety net is the lowest part, at 11.6. The typical household earns $95,471 a year (2024), more than in 92% of U.S. counties.
The County Distress Index looks at five parts of household money trouble in Northwest Hills Planning Region: jobs, late payments on loans, income and the safety net, collections and bankruptcy, and housing costs. Each part is scored from 0 to 100, and a higher score means worse off than other counties.
Even so, Northwest Hills Planning Region is worse off than most counties on renters paying half their income or more in rent (23.3%, 2020 to 2024).
A longer bar means more trouble. See how the county score works.
- 59.5 of 100
Collections and bankruptcy
Biggest factorCredit records, August 2025; bankruptcy filings, 2025
- People with unpaid debt sent to a collectornot published for this state; scored at the national median · August 202550th percentile
- Bankruptcy filings per 100,000 people175.4 · 202568th percentile
-
- 58.5 of 100
Housing costs
Renters, 2020–24 Census survey; HUD's fair market rents, fiscal year 2027
- Renters paying half their income or more in rent23.3% · 2020 to 202479th percentile
- Rent on a two-bedroom as a share of the median income19.6% · fiscal year 202737th percentile
-
- 51.1 of 100
Late payments
Credit records, August 2025
- People with a credit card behindnot published for this state; scored at the national median · August 202551st percentile
- People with a car or retail loan behindnot published for this state; scored at the national median · August 202552nd percentile
- People with a subprime credit scorenot published for this state; scored at the national median50th percentile
-
- 46.8 of 100
Jobs
Unemployment through Sep 2026; adults not working, 2020–24 Census survey
- Unemployment rate, average over the latest year4.6% · Oct 2025 to Sep 202667th percentile
- Adults 25 to 54 not working16.8% · 2020 to 202425th percentile
-
- 11.6 of 100
Income and safety net
Poverty and income, 2024; disability and insurance, 2020–24 Census survey
- People below the poverty line8.6% · 202412th percentile
- Children below the poverty line10.1% · 202413th percentile
- People with a disability12.3% · 2020 to 202417th percentile
- People without health insurance3.9% · 2020 to 20247th percentile
- Median household income (lower income, longer bar)$95,471 · 20247th percentile
-
Sources: Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Fair Market Rents and Census income; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. County Distress Index by American Default Research, from data through Sep 2026.
Where the money in Northwest Hills Planning Region comes from
Benefit checks are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid paid on people's behalf, veterans' benefits, and food and income support, so a high share usually means an older population, low pay, or both. In Northwest Hills Planning Region, 23.1% of residents are 65 or older (Census Bureau, 2024), against 17.2% nationally that year.
Cents of every dollar of income, 2024
Northwest Hills Planning Region
Connecticut
United States
- Pay from work
- Investments and rent
- Benefit checks
In Northwest Hills Planning Region, benefit checks' share of income has more than doubled since 1969, reaching 17.0% in 2024, but pay from work still brings in more than three times as much as benefit checks
In Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut, benefit checks' share of income more than doubled from 1969 to 2024, reaching 17.0%; pay from work is plotted alongside. Every fifth year and 2024 are shown.
- Benefit checks
- Pay from work
SNAP food aid is one of the benefit checks counted in the income totals above.
The share of households in Northwest Hills Planning Region getting SNAP food aid more than doubled to 8.6%, the highest on the chart
Biggest rise: 2013 to 2014, reaching 7.3%. Households getting SNAP, every year; each bar is a five-year survey estimate ending that year, so neighboring bars share most of their data, Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut.
How Northwest Hills Planning Region has changed
The number of jobs located in Northwest Hills Planning Region held about level from 2024 to 2025.
| Measure | Then | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Jobs located in the countyBLS QCEW | 2024 37,684 | 2025 38,012 |
| Unemployment rateBLS LAUS | 1990 4.3% | 2025 3.7% |
| People below the poverty lineCensus SAIPE | 1989 4.2% | 2024 8.6% |
| Median household incomeCensus SAIPE | 1989 $39,231 | 2024 $95,471 |
The table uses 3.7% for 2025; the score uses 4.6% for the latest year (Oct 2025 to Sep 2026), both from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Figures are as each agency published them, not adjusted for prices.
Dated events in Northwest Hills Planning Region's history
2013
2013, established to replace Connecticut's counties as county-equivalent. Wikipedia
Northwest Hills Planning Region beside its neighbors
Of the six counties that border Northwest Hills Planning Region, in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, four score higher. For the share of income from benefit checks, Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks 6th of the seven; Hampden County is highest, at 32.2%.
| County | Score | Poverty | Benefit checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hampden County, MA | 76 | 16.0% | 32.2% |
| Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT | 58 | 12.5% | 20.0% |
| Capitol Planning Region, CT | 51 | 10.4% | 17.1% |
| Berkshire County, MA | 43 | 11.3% | 27.1% |
| Northwest Hills Planning Region, CT | 42 | 8.6% | 17.0% |
| Western Connecticut Planning Region, CT | 40 | 7.8% | 7.4% |
| Dutchess County, NY | 32 | 8.4% | 18.9% |
Distress score: American Default Research, County Distress Index, data through Sep 2026; each county scored against all 3,144. Poverty rate: Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates, 2024. Benefit checks: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. Neighbors share a border, from Census county maps.
Is Northwest Hills Planning Region the poorest county in Connecticut?
No, Northwest Hills Planning Region's poverty rate was 8.6% in 2024, 6th highest of 9 in Connecticut (U.S. Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). By that measure the poorest county in the state is Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, at 12.5%. On our distress index, which counts more than poverty, Northwest Hills Planning Region ranks 6th of 9 in the state.
Questions about Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut
What is the population of Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut?
114,101 people in 2024, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis's count.
If you're behind on your mortgage in Northwest Hills Planning Region
Housing counselors approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development work at nonprofit agencies. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes free foreclosure-avoidance counseling, including help with mortgage-company conversations and available options Source CFPB.
-
Connecticut Legal Services (CLS)
Legal aid
-
Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut
Legal aid
-
HUD-approved housing counselors
Our help directory lists 1,010 agencies approved for foreclosure counseling, by state.
The score, its 14 measures and their sources, in one file. Free to use with credit to American Default Research.
Download the CSV for Northwest Hills Planning Region · Every U.S. county (CSV)
Sources and method
- American Default Research · County Distress Index Data through Sep 2026, built from Urban Institute, Debt in America; Equifax via the St. Louis Fed; U.S. Courts, Table F-5A; Census Bureau, American Community Survey; HUD Fair Market Rents and Census income; Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics; Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates. The County Distress Index is American Default Research's own calculation; the Urban Institute does not produce or endorse it. Our methodology
- Urban Institute · Debt in America Breno Braga, Signe-Mary McKernan, Samantha Atherton, and Kassandra Martinchek, "Debt in America," last updated November 20, 2025, https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/debt-america-2025. Licensed under ODC-By 1.0.
- Rent on a two-bedroom and household income The rent share compares HUD fair market rent for fiscal year 2027 with Census Bureau median household income for 2024. The page calls this the typical household's income.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (CAINC4) · income shares Where the money in Northwest Hills Planning Region comes from, 2024.
- History The agencies named in each row and the linked records above.