Shownotes
What is the most affordable LGBTQ+ friendly city in Connecticut?
Ready to live fabulously (without blowing your entire paycheck on rent)? In this episode of Queer Money®, we’re spilling the tea on the most LGBTQ+-friendly — and affordable — city in the great state of Connecticut. 💁♂️
We’re putting Norwalk and Stamford head-to-head in a queer-friendly housing showdown. Norwalk takes the crown with a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index and a price tag that won’t give your savings account a panic attack. ✨
Stamford? Still cute, still inclusive — but honey, you’re paying a premium for that zip code.
And we’re not leaving Hartford out in the cold — it may not be top-tier (yet), but it’s got heart, affordability, and major potential.
We break down housing prices, income stats, and what it actually feels like to live queer in each city. Because finding a place to thrive shouldn’t require a trust fund or tolerating discrimination.
💅 Gayfabulous Takeaways:
- 🌈 Norwalk is that girl — She’s Connecticut’s top LGBTQ+ affordable city with a perfect Municipal Equality Index score and high average incomes. She said rights and riches!
- 💸 Stamford’s the glam runner-up — A little pricier, but still packing financial opportunity and serious ally energy. She’s giving career goals with a rainbow twist.
- 🏡 Hartford’s the scrappy underdog — Not quite main stage yet, but with affordability and room for LGBTQ+ community growth, it’s one makeover away from major potential.
- 🗺️ Where you live impacts how you thrive — This episode reminds us that financial freedom isn’t just about dollars — it’s about choosing places that affirm, support, and uplift us.
- 💪 Financial empowerment is a queer right — The more we know about inclusive, affordable cities, the more power we have to build our best, boldest lives.
- ⭐ We want to hear from you — Leave a review, rate the show, and be part of the fabulous queer money convo. Your voice helps this community glow up.
- Get the dynamic list of Affordable LGBTQ+ Friendly Cities in the U.S. here.
- Watch this episode on YouTube
- Don't miss the other states we've covered in this Gay Cities series
✨ Fabulous Show Topics:
- 00:08 – Speed Limits & Queer Liberation: A Very Unnecessary History Lesson - Because what’s queerer than questioning why we can only drive 65 when our financial goals are going 100?
- 00:34 – Connecticut Cuties: Where Can You Be Gay and Afford to Live? - We’re talking Norwalk, Stamford, and a touch of Hartford — serving Municipal Equality Realness with a side of budget-conscious glam.
- 02:31 – Queer & Cheap(ish): Our Nationwide Round-Up of Affordable LGBTQ+ Cities - These cities are waving rainbow flags and helping you keep your coins. 🏳️🌈💰
- 03:17 – Policies That Slay: Where LGBTQ+ People Are Legally Loves - The receipts are in: these cities walk the equality walk, and we are so here for it.
- 04:33 – Hartford Deserves a Glow-Up: Budget-Friendly with Big Potential - It may not have Norwalk’s sparkle yet, but Hartford’s on the come-up — and your wallet will thank you.
- 06:52 – Upcoming Queer Happenings & Helpful Resources - The events, tools, and must-knows to keep your gay agenda fully booked and financially fabulous.
Connect with us:
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Transcripts
Foreign.
Speaker B:Song is Yankee Doodle.
Speaker B:It imposed the first speed limit at 12 miles per hour.
Speaker B:And we're not talking about Mitch McConnell's home state.
Speaker B:And it's where Pez candies are made.
Speaker A:It has a city where it is illegal to cross the street walking on your hands.
Speaker A:It is where lollipops were invented and maybe the Lollipop Guild.
Speaker A:And it's where the first telephone book was issued with a whopping 50 names and phone numbers.
Speaker B:You're listening to Queer Money, episode number 469.
Speaker B:And today we're sharing the most affordable LGBTQ plus friendly city to live in in Connecticut.
Speaker B:Now on to the show.
Speaker A:The mission of Queer Money is to financially empower the LGBTQ + community.
Speaker A:Welcome back, folks.
Speaker A:We are diving into Connecticut.
Speaker A:That's what you're here to to see or hear.
Speaker A:So some good things about Connecticut.
Speaker A:A whopping 6%, or roughly about 6% of people living in Connecticut.
Speaker A:Adults living in Connecticut identify as LGBTQ.
Speaker A: Well, that means about: Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Connecticut.
Speaker A:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:If you're from Connecticut, you know, please let us.
Speaker A:Yeah, let us know.
Speaker A:So the winner and the runner up in both cases are cities that are less than two hours or two hour drive from New York City.
Speaker A:Which means there's a lot of people living in these cities that are high income earners who most likely work in New York City and live in Connecticut.
Speaker B:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:So the runner up is Stamford, Connecticut.
Speaker B:That's the one with the M, not the N.
Speaker B:That's on the other side of the country.
Speaker B:It's about an hour and a half drive from Manhattan.
Speaker B:Uh, so why did it get our number two spot?
Speaker B:Well, HRC gave it a Municipal Equality Index rating of 100.
Speaker B:It's one out of two cities within Connecticut.
Speaker B:Home values average $607,000 per property, which is the highest for the state.
Speaker B:Rents come in at $2,882 per month for a two bedroom, two bathroom apartment.
Speaker B:That's also the highest for the state.
Speaker B:Cost of living is 138.6% of the national average.
Speaker B:That is tied for the highest with Norwalk and Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Speaker B:Average income is $101,000 a year, the second highest for the state.
Speaker B:And median income is $70,000 per year, also the second highest for dollar for Connecticut.
Speaker A:We are doing a most affordable LGBTQ cities around the country in every single state.
Speaker A:If you are watching on YouTube, you can catch that whole series right up here.
Speaker A:If you're listening on your podcast player.
Speaker A:Go ahead and click the link in your podcast player.
Speaker A:Last week we visited the state of Delaware with our data.
Speaker A:If you are watching on YouTube again, click up here.
Speaker A:You can watch that or if you're listening, click the link in your podcast player.
Speaker B:This week's podcast love came from Dorian Robbs on Spotify, who said about episode number 420 about whether the LGBTQ plus community still has corporate allies.
Speaker B:Post Dylan Mulvaney they said, I love it.
Speaker B:Great episode.
Speaker B:Well, thank you very much Dorian Robbs.
Speaker B:We appreciate the support.
Speaker B:If you feel inclined, please give us a rating and review on your favorite podcast player.
Speaker B:Or if you're watching, give us a comment on this video after you give us a thumbs up.
Speaker A:All right, so who was our winner?
Speaker A:The winner for the state of Connecticut is one of the other cities John mentioned, Norwalk.
Speaker A:Why is Norwalk the winner for the state?
Speaker A:Well, it did get the other 100 on the HRC's Municipal Equality Index, which basically is an indication as to the city itself welcoming LGBT people with policies and activities that they do at the city level.
Speaker A:Services home values came in at $552,000, which is second highest in the state.
Speaker A:Rent came in at $2,517, which was also the second highest in the state.
Speaker A:And as John mentioned earlier, it was tied for cost of living with the other two cities at 138.6, which was the highest for the state.
Speaker A:But average incomes come in at 105,000 and median incomes come in at $75,000, which were both the highest in the state.
Speaker A:It's a clear indication here that both our winner and our runner up are cities where people most likely live in Connecticut and work in New York.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's probably where like geo Arbitrage first started.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker B:So because neither of those cities is terribly affordable, we decided to have another honorable mention this week, and that is Connecticut's state capital of Hartford.
Speaker B:And you'll hear why here in a moment.
Speaker B:HRC gave it a rating of 99 on its municipal Equality Index.
Speaker B:It's only missing some trans benefits, such as not having trans inclusive healthcare benefits at the municipality level.
Speaker B:And two of three, it got two of three for the leadership having pro equality policy efforts.
Speaker B:So there's a little bit more effort.
Speaker B:They might be able to get that 100.
Speaker B:And with a 100, Hartford would be number one and Norwalk would be number two in our analysis, but it's not currently there.
Speaker B:Some more information though, that you might want to know about Hartford if you're looking to move to Connecticut.
Speaker B:It's way more affordable.
Speaker B:Home values come in at $173,000 per property, which is less than a third of the home values costs in Stanford and Norwalk.
Speaker B:Rent comes in at $1,573 per month, which for two bedroom, two bathroom apartment which is just below average cost of living is 104.8% of the national average.
Speaker B:Average income is $52,000 a year, which is the second lowest for Connecticut.
Speaker B:Median income comes in at $42,000 a year, which is the lowest for the state.
Speaker B:So the reason everything is just cheaper, including incomes, is just doesn't have the support from New York City.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So some good things About Norwalk Troop 429 is a gay owned and operated LGBTQ bar for everyone all day, all day, every day.
Speaker A:And after doing some research, they clearly know what they're doing when it comes to SEO.
Speaker A:Because 157 of the top 15 results when you look up gay Norwalk are about troop 45.
Speaker A:Troop 429, sorry, troop 429.
Speaker B:So yeah, whoever they've got, they've got an amazing social media manager or content creator.
Speaker B:So that's pretty awesome.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So check out the local PFLAG chapter@pflag norwalk.org visit Triangle Community Center@ctpridecenter.org and their pride in Norwalk is typically the second weekend in June.
Speaker A:It was June 10th.
Speaker A:This year it is in Veterans Memorial park, which is thrown by the Triangle Community Center.
Speaker B:Pretty awesome.
Speaker B:Congratulations Stanford at Norwalk.
Speaker B:And maybe next time Hartford.
Speaker A:Make sure you join us next Thursday on the Queer Money bonus episode where we are covering the most affordable, LGBTQ friendly city in the state of Colorado.
Speaker A:Our old home.
Speaker B:Yay.
Speaker B:If you'd like to see the results from each of the cities that we're covering in every state that we're analyzing, go to queermoneypodcast.com forward/cities or click the link in your podcast player if you're listening or or click the link right here if you're watching on YouTube.
Speaker B:Thank you and have an amazing weekend.
