Fair Rent Commission (FRCs) requirements were expanded during Connecticut’s 2025, special legislative session, by lowering the population threshold for requiring FRCs. This change now requires an additional 33 municipalities to establish a Fair Rent Commission (FRC). Read more here.
Read MoreFrom the 2021 to 2025 municipal election, voter turnout increased from 32% to 36% statewide. This represents almost 85,000 additional voters in the most recent election. Of the 158 towns that had a municipal election in both 2021 and 2025, almost three in four saw a higher turnout in 2025. In this blog post, we explore differences in voter turnout by town.
Read MoreThis year, there have been significant proposed federal funding cuts to Medicaid and other assistance programs. Recent policy shifts are reshaping access to health care, nutrition supports and other services. Young children (ages 0 to 3), one of the most vulnerable populations, will be affected by these changes.
To better understand the landscape of Medicaid in Connecticut for young children, we analyzed several key measures from the Connecticut Department of Social Services Medicaid data, such as enrollment and developmental screenings, along with participation in other services such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC).
Read MoreIn this post, we will use ACS data to analyze how Connecticut’s home heating landscape is evolving. We review state, regional, and national trends, explore differences within the state, and consider what these trends may mean for future policy and the path toward decarbonizing home heating. Results in this post will refer to 2024 1-year ACS data unless otherwise specified.
Read MoreIn response to the federal data system going black in January of this year, we at CTData have been partnering with local organizations to bring people together across the state to share information about what we know about changes to federal and state data, and also to help folks connect locally around data and strategies they can use to best serve their region. On October 30, 2025, we partnered with Norwalk ACTS to bring this event to Norwalk. This post includes highlights from this session, but can’t do justice to the excellent presentations and conversations. Read this post to find many ways you can stay informed and take action!
Read MoreCTData is pleased to announce that the organization is one of 30 grantees nationwide to be awarded the Local Data for Equitable Communities grant, an initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the Urban Institute to support local communities in using data to improve local conditions and help residents live their healthiest lives. This grant allows CTData to provide data and insights to address the barriers Hartford families face in accessing quality sports and recreation amenities for their families. During the past 20 years, youth and families in Hartford have experienced a disinvestment in local amenities such as fewer recreation centers, shorter pool hours, and fewer affordable program options, despite the clear need for physical and social development. The grant offers CTData the ability to extend its work to elevate resident voices to address policy challenges using data.
Read MoreHow can we ensure that we can provide services without risking people’s safety when sharing information? This concern has grown in recent months, and many organizations in Connecticut are seeking guidance. Dr. Eric Giannella of the Massive Data Institute presented to Connecticut organizations and provided practical steps we can take to safeguard our data.
Read MoreIf you're a Connecticut resident, you have likely heard of Willimantic. But did you know that Willimantic isn't officially a "Town" but is part of the "Town" of Windham? This and other idiosyncrasies may make finding data about a place you're interested tricky. In this webinar you’ll learn how the Census Bureau categorizes different kinds of places in Connecticut, and shows you how to access these places through data.census.gov, the Census Bureau's data portal.
Read MoreIn July, we held a session discussing data visualization design principles centered around equity and accessibility. We explored how our design decisions for data visualizations could potentially exclude parts of our audiences, shaping who can gain insights from the data and who isn't. We also examined what accessibility means, best practices for inclusive design, and heard from several CTData staff members who have made adjustments to their own work.
Read MoreIn recent months, there has been an increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the country as well as in Connecticut, including a high-profile story of the arrest of an Afghan interpreter for the US military who had fled the Taliban and resettled in Connecticut. We wondered, to what extent has this activity increased, and what we know about it?
Using data from the Deportation Data Project, we explored a few basic questions to get a clearer picture. Explore our analysis here.
Read MoreData from the Connecticut Secretary of the State reveals that annual net business formations across the state have tripled from 13,847 in 2010 to 44,146 in 2024, with the Capitol Planning Region now leading at 27% of all new businesses. We've released a dashboard that tracks these business formations, closures, and net growth trends from 2010 to 2025 and put together an analysis of the data. With this tool, you can explore the data at the state, regional, and town levels.
Read MoreMany nonprofit organizations (and for-profit organizations) believe that creating a data dashboard is the key to solving all their data challenges. But the reality is often more complicated, just like the problems you are trying to solve.
Read MoreSupport from The Connecticut Project enabled CTData to offer Data Strategic Planning to a cohort of organizations working to increase access to affordable housing across the state. This cohort brings together nonprofit housing developers, advocates, financers, organizers, and planners operating at the local, regional, and statewide levels.
Read MoreTo celebrate two years of helping organizations across Connecticut strengthen their data work, CTData Collaborative’s Data Strategic Planning (DSP) program hosted a gathering of nonprofit organizations and government agencies that have completed the Data Strategic Planning initiative. Professionals working in social services, public health, legal aid, education, public libraries, housing, museums, historic preservation, and more came together at the beautiful Mercy by the Sea retreat center in Madison. They gathered to share what they have learned and how their organizations have grown through data work.
Read MoreOur June Community of Practice session was centered around the AISP Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration. We explored how decisions throughout data work, from project design to credit attribution, can either advance equity or reinforce harm.
Read MoreOur May Community of Practice session focused on evaluating generative AI tools with a risk-aware lens, highlighting key considerations like data handling, model transparency, and ethical safeguards. We also took a look at some practical checklists and evaluation rubrics to help guide responsible AI use in the workplace.
Read MoreNon-profit organizations rarely work alone; they are often connected to other organizations working on similar issues or providing services essential to their operations. CTData provided data literacy training and coaching sessions for each of the state’s legal service providers, helping them to develop a framework for measuring their impact. The coaching sessions with each provider also helped CTData understand the challenges faced across the legal aid system and build a framework for further research.
Read MoreWhile the topic of “disappearing data” may seem alarmist, or perhaps relevant only to data people, what we are learning about changes to the support of our publicly funded data is going to affect every organization, including non-profit and for-profit organizations. At our May 30 event in Hartford, we learned more about what is happening to data and data partnership that is affecting state data, what we can do in our own organizations to follow the law and protect privacy, and most importantly, identified actions that we can all take as participants in this great democracy.
Read MoreOn the afternoon of Tuesday May 13th, inside the historic Hall of Flags at the Connecticut State Capitol, Hartford youth took the spotlight. The 2025 Hartford Youth Data Walk, hosted by CTData, brought together young people, community leaders, nonprofit partners, and policymakers to engage with powerful, youth-led presentations rooted in local data. Click to read more.
Read MoreThe United States leads the world in providing open access to government data. However, the neutrality and availability of crucial data required for informed decision-making, dissemination of public funds, public services, and research, is at risk.
In our recent webinar, Safeguarding Federal Data for Democracy, experts from across the country gathered to discuss the urgent need to preserve public data, the threats facing federal data infrastructure, and we data users can respond.
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