Health Reference Groups

The Connecticut Community Health Data Scan uses a principal methodology of Health Reference Groups (HRGs) to report data. These HRGs were especially useful in considering small towns where the community size and indicator counts would be too small to obtain reliable estimates, or where Connecticut agencies would suppress the data for reasons of confidentiality.

Six HRGs were formed via statistical cluster analysis. These clusters were named:
1. Urban Centers (the three largest cities: Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven)
2. Manufacturing Centers
3. Diverse Suburbs
4. Wealthy Suburbs
5. Mill Towns
6. Rural Towns

List of Towns in the HRGs

HRG 1 – Urban Centers

• Bridgeport
• Hartford
• New Haven

HRG 2 – Manufacturing Centers

• Danbury
• East Hartford
• Meriden
• New Britain
• New London
• Norwalk
• Stamford
• Waterbury
• West Haven
• Windham

HRG 3 – Diverse Suburbs

• Ansonia
• Bloomfield
• Bristol
• Derby
• Enfield
• Groton
• Hamden
• Manchester
• Middletown
• Naugatuck
• Norwich
• Stratford
• Vernon
• West Hartford
• Windsor

HRG 4 – Wealthy Suburbs

• Avon
• Bridgewater
• Brookfield
• Darien
• Easton
• Essex
• Fairfield
• Glastonbury
• Greenwich
• Guilford
• Killingworth
• Lyme
• Madison
• New Canaan
• New Fairfield
• Newtown
• Old Lyme
• Redding
• Ridgefield
• Roxbury
• Simsbury
• Trumbull
• Washington
• Weston
• Westport
• Wilton
• Woodbridge

HRG 5 – Mill Towns

• Bethel
• Branford
• Brooklyn
• Cromwell
• East Haven
• East Windsor
• Griswold
• Killingly
• Lisbon
• Mansfield
• Milford
• Montville
• Newington
• North Canaan
• North Haven
• Plainfield
• Plainville
• Plymouth
• Putnam
• Rocky Hill
• Seymour
• Shelton
• Somers
• Southington
• Sprague
• Stafford
• Sterling
• Stonington
• Thomaston
• Thompson
• Torrington
• Wallingford
• Waterford
• Watertown
• Wethersfield
• Willington
• Winchester
• Windsor Locks
• Wolcott

HRG 6 – Rural Towns

• Andover
• Ashford
• Barkhamsted
• Beacon Falls
• Berlin
• Bethany
• Bethlehem
• Bolton
• Bozrah
• Burlington
• Canaan
• Canterbury
• Canton
• Chaplin
• Cheshire
• Chester
• Clinton
• Colchester
• Colebrook
• Columbia
• Cornwall
• Coventry
• Deep River
• Durham
• Eastford
• East Granby
• East Haddam
• East Hampton
• East Lyme
• Ellington
• Farmington
• Franklin
• Goshen
• Granby
• Haddam
• Hampton
• Hartland
• Harwinton
• Hebron
• Kent
• Lebanon
• Ledyard
• Litchfield
• Marlborough
• Middlebury
• Middlefield
• Monroe
• Morris
• New Hartford
• New Milford
• Norfolk
• North Branford
• North Stonington
• Old Saybrook
• Orange
• Oxford
• Pomfret
• Portland
• Preston
• Prospect
• Salem
• Salisbury
• Scotland
• Sharon
• Sherman
• South Windsor
• Southbury
• Suffield
• Tolland
• Union
• Voluntown
• Warren
• Westbrook
• Woodbury
• Woodstock