West Haven is a larger medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of Connecticut. With a population of 55,004 people and 11 associated neighborhoods, West Haven is the 16th largest community in Connecticut.Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, West Haven is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, West Haven is a city of service providers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in West Haven who work in office and administrative support (11.37%), food service (9.20%), and sales jobs (8.47%).West Haven is also a college town, where lots of students live while attending area colleges. Because of the high percentage of people living in West Haven enrolled in college, West Haven has a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared towards the needs and activities of students. One of the nice things about West Haven is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities. In terms of college education, West Haven is somewhat better educated than the 21.84% who have a 4-year degree or higher in the typical US community: 26.72% of adults 25 and older in the city have at least a bachelor's degree. The per capita income in West Haven in 2022 was $34,740, which is low income relative to Connecticut, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $138,960 for a family of four. However, West Haven contains both very wealthy and poor people as well. West Haven is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call West Haven home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of West Haven residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. West Haven also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 26.75% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in West Haven include Italian, Irish, German, English, and Polish. West Haven also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 19.10%. The most common language spoken in West Haven is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Arabic.
