{
 "metadata": {
  "purpose": "Rule-based peer sets for Essex, derived from published state data by a stated formula rather than selected by hand.",
  "built_by": "Data/build_peer_sets.py",
  "recipe": "python Data/fetch_ct_ucoa.py && python Data/build_peer_sets.py",
  "input_file": "src/data/ct_ucoa_town_indicators.json",
  "source": "CT Office of Policy and Management — Municipal Fiscal Indicators (Uniform Chart of Accounts program)",
  "dataset_id": "ej6f-y2wf",
  "source_url": "https://data.ct.gov/resource/ej6f-y2wf.json",
  "pulled": "2026-08-25",
  "dataset_last_updated": "2026-03-03",
  "match_year": "FY 22-23 (OPM fiscal_year_end 2023)",
  "rule": "Standardize each variable across all towns (log-transforming the skewed size and wealth variables), then rank towns by Euclidean distance to Essex in that standardized space. Variables are equally weighted. Nearest 12 are the peer set.",
  "why_logs": "Population, enrollment, and grand list per resident are heavily right-skewed. On raw values a few outlier towns dominate the variance and flatten real differences among mid-sized towns; on logs, the unit of distance becomes 'twice as big', which is the comparison that makes sense here.",
  "weighting_note": "Equal weights are a stated choice, not a fact. They were not tuned to produce a particular list.",
  "wealth_proxy_note": "Equalized net grand list per resident stands in for community wealth: it is the tax base per person restated to full market value, and it is the quantity that constrains what a mill rate can raise. Median household income would be a useful additional variable but the Census ACS API now requires a key.",
  "relationship_to_existing_sets": "Additional, not a replacement. The hand-built sets (Surrounding towns, DRG C) remain in use everywhere they already appear. Where this set and those sets disagree, the disagreement is itself worth showing.",
  "drg_note": "CT SDE District Reference Groups were created in 1996, last reassigned in 2006 on roughly 2000-census inputs, and have not been updated since. They were designed to compare school districts on family demographics — appropriate for education questions, not for municipal operations, and blind to town size.",
  "excluded": [
   "Groton (city)"
  ],
  "dropped_for_missing_data": [],
  "town_count_ranked": 169
 },
 "target": "Essex",
 "variable_stats": {
  "population": {
   "label": "Population (CT DPH estimate)",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 9.392518,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 1.111223,
   "target_raw": 6802
  },
  "enrollment": {
   "label": "Average Daily Membership enrollment",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 7.309335,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 1.228189,
   "target_raw": 583.2
  },
  "grand_list_per_capita": {
   "label": "Equalized net grand list per resident",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 12.211418,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 0.467644,
   "target_raw": 339894.055425
  },
  "school_age_share": {
   "label": "Enrollment as a share of population",
   "log_transformed": false,
   "mean_of_transformed": 0.127697,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 0.027724,
   "target_raw": 0.085739
  },
  "unemployment": {
   "label": "Unemployment rate, annual average",
   "log_transformed": false,
   "mean_of_transformed": 0.030079,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 0.00449,
   "target_raw": 0.025
  }
 },
 "peer_sets": {
  "municipal": {
   "label": "Municipal peers",
   "purpose": "Town-side spending, debt, reserves, and tax comparisons.",
   "variables": [
    {
     "key": "population",
     "label": "Population (CT DPH estimate)",
     "log_transformed": true
    },
    {
     "key": "grand_list_per_capita",
     "label": "Equalized net grand list per resident",
     "log_transformed": true
    },
    {
     "key": "school_age_share",
     "label": "Enrollment as a share of population",
     "log_transformed": false
    },
    {
     "key": "unemployment",
     "label": "Unemployment rate, annual average",
     "log_transformed": false
    }
   ],
   "peers": [
    "Westbrook",
    "Goshen",
    "Old Saybrook",
    "Sherman",
    "Litchfield",
    "Lyme",
    "Kent",
    "Salisbury",
    "Deep River",
    "Norfolk",
    "Clinton",
    "Morris"
   ],
   "ranked": [
    {
     "town": "Westbrook",
     "distance": 0.7528
    },
    {
     "town": "Goshen",
     "distance": 0.7924
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Saybrook",
     "distance": 0.8837
    },
    {
     "town": "Sherman",
     "distance": 0.9611
    },
    {
     "town": "Litchfield",
     "distance": 1.1154
    },
    {
     "town": "Lyme",
     "distance": 1.1509
    },
    {
     "town": "Kent",
     "distance": 1.1595
    },
    {
     "town": "Salisbury",
     "distance": 1.3324
    },
    {
     "town": "Deep River",
     "distance": 1.3456
    },
    {
     "town": "Norfolk",
     "distance": 1.3481
    },
    {
     "town": "Clinton",
     "distance": 1.3553
    },
    {
     "town": "Morris",
     "distance": 1.3878
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbury",
     "distance": 1.4051
    },
    {
     "town": "Stonington",
     "distance": 1.4148
    },
    {
     "town": "Chester",
     "distance": 1.4703
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgewater",
     "distance": 1.4837
    },
    {
     "town": "Cornwall",
     "distance": 1.5546
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingworth",
     "distance": 1.6623
    },
    {
     "town": "Branford",
     "distance": 1.6733
    },
    {
     "town": "Bozrah",
     "distance": 1.6988
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartland",
     "distance": 1.7034
    },
    {
     "town": "Washington",
     "distance": 1.7063
    },
    {
     "town": "Barkhamsted",
     "distance": 1.8434
    },
    {
     "town": "Roxbury",
     "distance": 1.858
    },
    {
     "town": "Southbury",
     "distance": 1.8672
    },
    {
     "town": "Haddam",
     "distance": 1.9054
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haddam",
     "distance": 1.9064
    },
    {
     "town": "Durham",
     "distance": 1.9411
    },
    {
     "town": "Harwinton",
     "distance": 1.9759
    },
    {
     "town": "New Hartford",
     "distance": 2.01
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlefield",
     "distance": 2.028
    },
    {
     "town": "Warren",
     "distance": 2.0321
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Lyme",
     "distance": 2.0406
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterford",
     "distance": 2.0669
    },
    {
     "town": "Voluntown",
     "distance": 2.0801
    },
    {
     "town": "East Windsor",
     "distance": 2.0899
    },
    {
     "town": "Pomfret",
     "distance": 2.1164
    },
    {
     "town": "Redding",
     "distance": 2.1165
    },
    {
     "town": "North Branford",
     "distance": 2.119
    },
    {
     "town": "Oxford",
     "distance": 2.1307
    },
    {
     "town": "Eastford",
     "distance": 2.1316
    },
    {
     "town": "Madison",
     "distance": 2.1429
    },
    {
     "town": "Sharon",
     "distance": 2.1471
    },
    {
     "town": "East Lyme",
     "distance": 2.1913
    },
    {
     "town": "Suffield",
     "distance": 2.2035
    },
    {
     "town": "Lebanon",
     "distance": 2.2154
    },
    {
     "town": "Rocky Hill",
     "distance": 2.2177
    },
    {
     "town": "Franklin",
     "distance": 2.2273
    },
    {
     "town": "Hampton",
     "distance": 2.2474
    },
    {
     "town": "Union",
     "distance": 2.2626
    },
    {
     "town": "Thompson",
     "distance": 2.2643
    },
    {
     "town": "Columbia",
     "distance": 2.2688
    },
    {
     "town": "North Haven",
     "distance": 2.2916
    },
    {
     "town": "Willington",
     "distance": 2.2934
    },
    {
     "town": "Milford",
     "distance": 2.2987
    },
    {
     "town": "Berlin",
     "distance": 2.3149
    },
    {
     "town": "Guilford",
     "distance": 2.4025
    },
    {
     "town": "Somers",
     "distance": 2.4025
    },
    {
     "town": "Beacon Falls",
     "distance": 2.4326
    },
    {
     "town": "Scotland",
     "distance": 2.4363
    },
    {
     "town": "Canterbury",
     "distance": 2.4497
    },
    {
     "town": "North Stonington",
     "distance": 2.4511
    },
    {
     "town": "New Milford",
     "distance": 2.4586
    },
    {
     "town": "Groton",
     "distance": 2.4766
    },
    {
     "town": "Andover",
     "distance": 2.4796
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hampton",
     "distance": 2.4815
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethany",
     "distance": 2.4854
    },
    {
     "town": "Chaplin",
     "distance": 2.4854
    },
    {
     "town": "Colebrook",
     "distance": 2.4975
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethlehem",
     "distance": 2.5015
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor Locks",
     "distance": 2.5304
    },
    {
     "town": "Bloomfield",
     "distance": 2.5432
    },
    {
     "town": "Canaan",
     "distance": 2.5959
    },
    {
     "town": "Newington",
     "distance": 2.6078
    },
    {
     "town": "Wallingford",
     "distance": 2.6116
    },
    {
     "town": "Burlington",
     "distance": 2.6418
    },
    {
     "town": "Salem",
     "distance": 2.6433
    },
    {
     "town": "Watertown",
     "distance": 2.6686
    },
    {
     "town": "Hebron",
     "distance": 2.6862
    },
    {
     "town": "Cromwell",
     "distance": 2.6984
    },
    {
     "town": "Newtown",
     "distance": 2.7031
    },
    {
     "town": "Montville",
     "distance": 2.7216
    },
    {
     "town": "Marlborough",
     "distance": 2.725
    },
    {
     "town": "Orange",
     "distance": 2.7252
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlebury",
     "distance": 2.7268
    },
    {
     "town": "Coventry",
     "distance": 2.7382
    },
    {
     "town": "Cheshire",
     "distance": 2.7473
    },
    {
     "town": "Bolton",
     "distance": 2.7497
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor",
     "distance": 2.7545
    },
    {
     "town": "Portland",
     "distance": 2.7736
    },
    {
     "town": "Canton",
     "distance": 2.7755
    },
    {
     "town": "Granby",
     "distance": 2.7764
    },
    {
     "town": "Farmington",
     "distance": 2.7948
    },
    {
     "town": "Prospect",
     "distance": 2.7949
    },
    {
     "town": "Brookfield",
     "distance": 2.8081
    },
    {
     "town": "North Canaan",
     "distance": 2.8442
    },
    {
     "town": "Middletown",
     "distance": 2.8479
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodstock",
     "distance": 2.8989
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethel",
     "distance": 2.9042
    },
    {
     "town": "Shelton",
     "distance": 2.9555
    },
    {
     "town": "Wethersfield",
     "distance": 2.964
    },
    {
     "town": "New Fairfield",
     "distance": 2.9709
    },
    {
     "town": "Colchester",
     "distance": 2.9944
    },
    {
     "town": "Stamford",
     "distance": 3.0025
    },
    {
     "town": "Southington",
     "distance": 3.0028
    },
    {
     "town": "Putnam",
     "distance": 3.015
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwalk",
     "distance": 3.0435
    },
    {
     "town": "Thomaston",
     "distance": 3.0743
    },
    {
     "town": "Stafford",
     "distance": 3.0872
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainville",
     "distance": 3.0957
    },
    {
     "town": "Avon",
     "distance": 3.1107
    },
    {
     "town": "Preston",
     "distance": 3.1124
    },
    {
     "town": "Ellington",
     "distance": 3.1428
    },
    {
     "town": "Ashford",
     "distance": 3.1479
    },
    {
     "town": "Ledyard",
     "distance": 3.162
    },
    {
     "town": "Greenwich",
     "distance": 3.1923
    },
    {
     "town": "Tolland",
     "distance": 3.1959
    },
    {
     "town": "Easton",
     "distance": 3.2018
    },
    {
     "town": "Hamden",
     "distance": 3.2061
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbridge",
     "distance": 3.2225
    },
    {
     "town": "Glastonbury",
     "distance": 3.2365
    },
    {
     "town": "Winchester",
     "distance": 3.2567
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainfield",
     "distance": 3.2574
    },
    {
     "town": "West Hartford",
     "distance": 3.2669
    },
    {
     "town": "Fairfield",
     "distance": 3.2752
    },
    {
     "town": "Sprague",
     "distance": 3.2761
    },
    {
     "town": "Seymour",
     "distance": 3.2783
    },
    {
     "town": "Enfield",
     "distance": 3.2955
    },
    {
     "town": "East Granby",
     "distance": 3.3122
    },
    {
     "town": "Vernon",
     "distance": 3.3188
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haven",
     "distance": 3.3258
    },
    {
     "town": "Simsbury",
     "distance": 3.3275
    },
    {
     "town": "Brooklyn",
     "distance": 3.3287
    },
    {
     "town": "Wolcott",
     "distance": 3.3632
    },
    {
     "town": "Danbury",
     "distance": 3.3646
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingly",
     "distance": 3.4817
    },
    {
     "town": "Lisbon",
     "distance": 3.5208
    },
    {
     "town": "Griswold",
     "distance": 3.5225
    },
    {
     "town": "Torrington",
     "distance": 3.5831
    },
    {
     "town": "Manchester",
     "distance": 3.7094
    },
    {
     "town": "Ridgefield",
     "distance": 3.7513
    },
    {
     "town": "New London",
     "distance": 3.8175
    },
    {
     "town": "Plymouth",
     "distance": 3.8393
    },
    {
     "town": "Stratford",
     "distance": 3.8539
    },
    {
     "town": "Monroe",
     "distance": 3.8928
    },
    {
     "town": "Mansfield",
     "distance": 3.9356
    },
    {
     "town": "Bristol",
     "distance": 3.9889
    },
    {
     "town": "South Windsor",
     "distance": 4.0362
    },
    {
     "town": "Derby",
     "distance": 4.0753
    },
    {
     "town": "Naugatuck",
     "distance": 4.1086
    },
    {
     "town": "West Haven",
     "distance": 4.1117
    },
    {
     "town": "Trumbull",
     "distance": 4.2306
    },
    {
     "town": "Ansonia",
     "distance": 4.3172
    },
    {
     "town": "Wilton",
     "distance": 4.3496
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwich",
     "distance": 4.3619
    },
    {
     "town": "Weston",
     "distance": 4.4878
    },
    {
     "town": "New Haven",
     "distance": 4.5103
    },
    {
     "town": "Westport",
     "distance": 4.5382
    },
    {
     "town": "Sterling",
     "distance": 4.6031
    },
    {
     "town": "New Canaan",
     "distance": 4.6125
    },
    {
     "town": "Meriden",
     "distance": 4.9674
    },
    {
     "town": "Darien",
     "distance": 4.9711
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hartford",
     "distance": 5.2432
    },
    {
     "town": "Windham",
     "distance": 5.3017
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgeport",
     "distance": 5.3145
    },
    {
     "town": "New Britain",
     "distance": 5.8101
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterbury",
     "distance": 6.9954
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartford",
     "distance": 7.0391
    }
   ]
  },
  "school": {
   "label": "School peers",
   "purpose": "Education spending comparisons.",
   "variables": [
    {
     "key": "enrollment",
     "label": "Average Daily Membership enrollment",
     "log_transformed": true
    },
    {
     "key": "grand_list_per_capita",
     "label": "Equalized net grand list per resident",
     "log_transformed": true
    },
    {
     "key": "school_age_share",
     "label": "Enrollment as a share of population",
     "log_transformed": false
    }
   ],
   "peers": [
    "Westbrook",
    "Goshen",
    "Sherman",
    "Litchfield",
    "Old Saybrook",
    "Morris",
    "Lyme",
    "Stonington",
    "Bethlehem",
    "Chester",
    "Kent",
    "Woodbury"
   ],
   "ranked": [
    {
     "town": "Westbrook",
     "distance": 0.3513
    },
    {
     "town": "Goshen",
     "distance": 0.6125
    },
    {
     "town": "Sherman",
     "distance": 0.7862
    },
    {
     "town": "Litchfield",
     "distance": 0.8009
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Saybrook",
     "distance": 0.8705
    },
    {
     "town": "Morris",
     "distance": 0.9035
    },
    {
     "town": "Lyme",
     "distance": 1.0029
    },
    {
     "town": "Stonington",
     "distance": 1.0776
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethlehem",
     "distance": 1.082
    },
    {
     "town": "Chester",
     "distance": 1.1675
    },
    {
     "town": "Kent",
     "distance": 1.1695
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbury",
     "distance": 1.1917
    },
    {
     "town": "Norfolk",
     "distance": 1.1982
    },
    {
     "town": "Deep River",
     "distance": 1.2616
    },
    {
     "town": "Salisbury",
     "distance": 1.3263
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgewater",
     "distance": 1.3804
    },
    {
     "town": "Branford",
     "distance": 1.4035
    },
    {
     "town": "Cornwall",
     "distance": 1.4208
    },
    {
     "town": "Clinton",
     "distance": 1.4297
    },
    {
     "town": "Canaan",
     "distance": 1.4544
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartland",
     "distance": 1.5061
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haddam",
     "distance": 1.5182
    },
    {
     "town": "Bozrah",
     "distance": 1.5445
    },
    {
     "town": "East Windsor",
     "distance": 1.547
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingworth",
     "distance": 1.5714
    },
    {
     "town": "Roxbury",
     "distance": 1.6226
    },
    {
     "town": "Colebrook",
     "distance": 1.636
    },
    {
     "town": "North Canaan",
     "distance": 1.6557
    },
    {
     "town": "Warren",
     "distance": 1.6653
    },
    {
     "town": "Washington",
     "distance": 1.6776
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlefield",
     "distance": 1.7194
    },
    {
     "town": "Barkhamsted",
     "distance": 1.7406
    },
    {
     "town": "Thompson",
     "distance": 1.7406
    },
    {
     "town": "Southbury",
     "distance": 1.7638
    },
    {
     "town": "Franklin",
     "distance": 1.7792
    },
    {
     "town": "Eastford",
     "distance": 1.8057
    },
    {
     "town": "Voluntown",
     "distance": 1.813
    },
    {
     "town": "Lebanon",
     "distance": 1.8279
    },
    {
     "town": "Union",
     "distance": 1.8417
    },
    {
     "town": "Willington",
     "distance": 1.8549
    },
    {
     "town": "Redding",
     "distance": 1.8616
    },
    {
     "town": "Bloomfield",
     "distance": 1.871
    },
    {
     "town": "Durham",
     "distance": 1.8906
    },
    {
     "town": "Hampton",
     "distance": 1.8958
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterford",
     "distance": 1.9002
    },
    {
     "town": "North Branford",
     "distance": 1.9418
    },
    {
     "town": "Haddam",
     "distance": 1.9465
    },
    {
     "town": "Harwinton",
     "distance": 1.9589
    },
    {
     "town": "Winchester",
     "distance": 1.9819
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor Locks",
     "distance": 1.9919
    },
    {
     "town": "Pomfret",
     "distance": 2.0125
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Lyme",
     "distance": 2.0147
    },
    {
     "town": "New Hartford",
     "distance": 2.022
    },
    {
     "town": "Chaplin",
     "distance": 2.0428
    },
    {
     "town": "Canterbury",
     "distance": 2.0526
    },
    {
     "town": "Columbia",
     "distance": 2.0752
    },
    {
     "town": "Preston",
     "distance": 2.1303
    },
    {
     "town": "Milford",
     "distance": 2.1385
    },
    {
     "town": "Oxford",
     "distance": 2.1434
    },
    {
     "town": "Beacon Falls",
     "distance": 2.1561
    },
    {
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    {
     "town": "East Haven",
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   ]
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 },
 "target_statewide_percentiles": {
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   "percentile": 5.9,
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 }
}