Brass and clocks made Waterbury's name, which is why people still call it the Brass City. It is a Connecticut city of about 115,000 in the Naugatuck Valley, and the old factory buildings and the clock tower at Union Station give it a strong industrial character. It is a real working city rather than a polished tourist stop. You can see local art and history at the Mattatuck Museum, catch a show at the Palace Theater, stroll the historic Green, and eat well, especially Italian food and the local style of pizza called apizza. The hilltop Holy Land USA cross is an odd, memorable landmark with views over town. Lake Quassapaug in nearby Middlebury is good for a summer day.
For Connecticut, it is one of the more affordable places to live, and prices have been climbing with little on the market. New Haven and Hartford are each about half an hour away. Crime is higher than average, mostly at night in some neighborhoods, and winters are snowy and icy. Ticks and Lyme disease are worth remembering in summer.
Cities with a similar character, anywhere on the site.
Out of 10. Open any score to see how it’s worked out. “Data-based” scores come from published figures; “Hey! En Route estimate” scores are worked out from what we know about the city; “Hey! En Route rating” scores were set by our editors.
- Known as
- The Brass City (historic brass manufacturing); Brass Capital of the World; Clock and watch capital (Timex, Waterbury Clock Company)
- Founded
- 1674 Mattatuck Plantation settled; 1686 named Waterbury; 1853 incorporated as a city
- Languages
- English; Spanish; Portuguese; Albanian; Italian; Polish; Arabic; Vietnamese
- Airports
- Bradley International (BDL), about 35 miles northeast; Tweed New Haven (HVN), about 30 miles southeast; Westchester County (HPN), about 45 miles southwest; New York LaGuardia (LGA) and JFK are about 80 miles away; Waterbury-Oxford (OXC) is general aviation only
- Tipping
- Restaurants 18-20%; bars $1-2 per drink; taxis and rideshare 15-20%; hotel housekeeping $3-5 per night; bellhops $2-5 per bag; counter service optional
About this data
Population 115,771, land area 28.52 sq mi, median home value $208,500 and rent $1,225 are Census QuickFacts fetched in this pass (population Vintage 2025). Metro figure 228,783 is the approximate 2020 Census value for the older Waterbury MSA delineation; Connecticut regional definitions changed in 2023, so this figure is approximate and lower confidence; Waterbury is the anchor city of its MSA. Visitor site and events URLs appeared in search results (discoverwaterbury.com/events). Elevation, coordinates, founding, event months, hotel ranges, tipping, cost-of-living index, crime rates and sale price are approximate or from general knowledge and not verified in this pass. URLs not load-tested.
