Connecticut, by the numbers

Income, homes and households

The state contains 5 metro areas, from Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT (1.15 million people) down to the smallest listed at the end of this page.

The median home value of $366,900 is 10 percent above the national figure. On income, Connecticut sits at $95,781 per household, 19 percent above the national figure. Together they say a good deal about the ticket sizes a local business can expect.

Median age 41.1, 2.2 years above the national median. Homeownership stands at 66.5%, 1 points above the US share. Among adults 25 and over, 42.5% have at least a bachelor's degree, 7 points above the US share. Of 1,959,490 people in the labor force, 5.6% are unemployed, about the same as the US share.

How does that compare with its largest metro? Income in Connecticut is about the same as the Hartford metro figure, the median home value is 10 percent higher than the Hartford metro figure, and business density is about the same as the Hartford metro figure; the full numbers are on the Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT page.

Competition, counted

The business base: 89,234 establishments with employees. Density runs 24.6 businesses for every 1,000 residents, in line with the national figure. The home-services trades that most often advertise locally number 5,487 establishments, a 6.1% share, 1 points above the US share.

The last column divides the local share of establishments by the national share (1.00 = the same mix as the US).

Crowded categories in Connecticut: landscaping services, personal care services, electrical contractors and physicians' offices. Landscaping services are the clearest case: 2,170 establishments, 1.7 times the share they hold nationally. Where the base is lighter: general freight trucking, roofing contractors, concrete contractors and real estate lessors. General freight trucking are the thinnest at 550, about 44% of the national share. Neither crowded nor thin: plumbing and HVAC contractors, specialty trade contractors and road and paving contractors.

Per 100,000 residents: restaurants 208.6, followed by physicians' offices and personal care services. Three categories dominate by count: restaurants at 7,560, physicians' offices at 2,826 and personal care services at 2,400. Taken as groups, the strongest relative to the US mix are the home-services trades (1.3 times the national share) and the weakest are trucking, storage, real estate and road construction (about 63% of).

Reading the numbers as an advertiser

Many competitors in landscaping services, personal care services and electrical contractors means the auction is expensive and the map pack is crowded; the winners are the profiles with the freshest reviews and the pages that answer the search precisely. With general freight trucking, roofing contractors and concrete contractors in short supply, the map pack often has room; a complete listing and a handful of recent reviews can put a business in it. With a median age 2.2 years above the national median, the classic path of search, reviews and a phone call still carries most of the business. With income 19 percent above the national figure, the message can lead on quality, warranty and speed rather than the lowest price.