{
 "metadata": {
  "purpose": "Rule-based peer sets for Salem, 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 Salem 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": "Salem",
 "variable_stats": {
  "population": {
   "label": "Population (CT DPH estimate)",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 9.392518,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 1.111223,
   "target_raw": 4319
  },
  "enrollment": {
   "label": "Average Daily Membership enrollment",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 7.309335,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 1.228189,
   "target_raw": 578.62
  },
  "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": 152034.624219
  },
  "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": 0.133971
  },
  "unemployment": {
   "label": "Unemployment rate, annual average",
   "log_transformed": false,
   "mean_of_transformed": 0.030079,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 0.00449,
   "target_raw": 0.0291
  }
 },
 "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": [
    "Columbia",
    "Pomfret",
    "Bolton",
    "Canterbury",
    "Woodstock",
    "Andover",
    "Beacon Falls",
    "Marlborough",
    "Portland",
    "Middlefield",
    "Chaplin",
    "Voluntown"
   ],
   "ranked": [
    {
     "town": "Columbia",
     "distance": 0.5034
    },
    {
     "town": "Pomfret",
     "distance": 0.6226
    },
    {
     "town": "Bolton",
     "distance": 0.642
    },
    {
     "town": "Canterbury",
     "distance": 0.6621
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodstock",
     "distance": 0.7686
    },
    {
     "town": "Andover",
     "distance": 0.783
    },
    {
     "town": "Beacon Falls",
     "distance": 0.7881
    },
    {
     "town": "Marlborough",
     "distance": 0.7928
    },
    {
     "town": "Portland",
     "distance": 0.7976
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlefield",
     "distance": 0.8378
    },
    {
     "town": "Chaplin",
     "distance": 0.8405
    },
    {
     "town": "Voluntown",
     "distance": 0.8721
    },
    {
     "town": "Lebanon",
     "distance": 0.8741
    },
    {
     "town": "Hebron",
     "distance": 0.8844
    },
    {
     "town": "Somers",
     "distance": 0.8929
    },
    {
     "town": "New Hartford",
     "distance": 0.9273
    },
    {
     "town": "Barkhamsted",
     "distance": 0.9368
    },
    {
     "town": "Harwinton",
     "distance": 0.9389
    },
    {
     "town": "Prospect",
     "distance": 1.0129
    },
    {
     "town": "North Stonington",
     "distance": 1.0431
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingworth",
     "distance": 1.05
    },
    {
     "town": "Coventry",
     "distance": 1.0629
    },
    {
     "town": "Canton",
     "distance": 1.0763
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlebury",
     "distance": 1.0875
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hampton",
     "distance": 1.1101
    },
    {
     "town": "Willington",
     "distance": 1.1101
    },
    {
     "town": "Haddam",
     "distance": 1.12
    },
    {
     "town": "Thomaston",
     "distance": 1.1409
    },
    {
     "town": "Brooklyn",
     "distance": 1.1748
    },
    {
     "town": "Burlington",
     "distance": 1.1878
    },
    {
     "town": "Granby",
     "distance": 1.1931
    },
    {
     "town": "Colchester",
     "distance": 1.1944
    },
    {
     "town": "Sprague",
     "distance": 1.2183
    },
    {
     "town": "Eastford",
     "distance": 1.2368
    },
    {
     "town": "North Branford",
     "distance": 1.2407
    },
    {
     "town": "Franklin",
     "distance": 1.2569
    },
    {
     "town": "Ashford",
     "distance": 1.2631
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haddam",
     "distance": 1.2649
    },
    {
     "town": "Suffield",
     "distance": 1.3025
    },
    {
     "town": "Chester",
     "distance": 1.3359
    },
    {
     "town": "Deep River",
     "distance": 1.3439
    },
    {
     "town": "Cromwell",
     "distance": 1.3743
    },
    {
     "town": "Montville",
     "distance": 1.3884
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethany",
     "distance": 1.3972
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor Locks",
     "distance": 1.4009
    },
    {
     "town": "Ellington",
     "distance": 1.4038
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainville",
     "distance": 1.4044
    },
    {
     "town": "Preston",
     "distance": 1.4064
    },
    {
     "town": "Oxford",
     "distance": 1.4089
    },
    {
     "town": "Griswold",
     "distance": 1.4119
    },
    {
     "town": "Ledyard",
     "distance": 1.4222
    },
    {
     "town": "Wolcott",
     "distance": 1.4353
    },
    {
     "town": "Putnam",
     "distance": 1.4362
    },
    {
     "town": "Stafford",
     "distance": 1.4455
    },
    {
     "town": "Scotland",
     "distance": 1.4505
    },
    {
     "town": "East Granby",
     "distance": 1.4738
    },
    {
     "town": "Thompson",
     "distance": 1.5335
    },
    {
     "town": "Berlin",
     "distance": 1.5627
    },
    {
     "town": "Bozrah",
     "distance": 1.5631
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainfield",
     "distance": 1.5638
    },
    {
     "town": "East Lyme",
     "distance": 1.5667
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbury",
     "distance": 1.5777
    },
    {
     "town": "Lisbon",
     "distance": 1.5849
    },
    {
     "town": "Rocky Hill",
     "distance": 1.6088
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartland",
     "distance": 1.6195
    },
    {
     "town": "Brookfield",
     "distance": 1.6331
    },
    {
     "town": "Watertown",
     "distance": 1.6405
    },
    {
     "town": "Tolland",
     "distance": 1.6452
    },
    {
     "town": "Durham",
     "distance": 1.6505
    },
    {
     "town": "North Canaan",
     "distance": 1.6625
    },
    {
     "town": "East Windsor",
     "distance": 1.6885
    },
    {
     "town": "Seymour",
     "distance": 1.6965
    },
    {
     "town": "Wethersfield",
     "distance": 1.6987
    },
    {
     "town": "New Fairfield",
     "distance": 1.736
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethel",
     "distance": 1.7419
    },
    {
     "town": "Southbury",
     "distance": 1.7689
    },
    {
     "town": "Litchfield",
     "distance": 1.8106
    },
    {
     "town": "Clinton",
     "distance": 1.8107
    },
    {
     "town": "New Milford",
     "distance": 1.8246
    },
    {
     "town": "North Haven",
     "distance": 1.8357
    },
    {
     "town": "Newington",
     "distance": 1.8438
    },
    {
     "town": "Colebrook",
     "distance": 1.8506
    },
    {
     "town": "Redding",
     "distance": 1.8588
    },
    {
     "town": "Cheshire",
     "distance": 1.8667
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor",
     "distance": 1.8884
    },
    {
     "town": "Easton",
     "distance": 1.9014
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethlehem",
     "distance": 1.9467
    },
    {
     "town": "Newtown",
     "distance": 1.9785
    },
    {
     "town": "Bloomfield",
     "distance": 1.9889
    },
    {
     "town": "Guilford",
     "distance": 2.0424
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterford",
     "distance": 2.0429
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbridge",
     "distance": 2.0719
    },
    {
     "town": "Groton",
     "distance": 2.0818
    },
    {
     "town": "Avon",
     "distance": 2.0854
    },
    {
     "town": "Simsbury",
     "distance": 2.096
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingly",
     "distance": 2.1261
    },
    {
     "town": "Plymouth",
     "distance": 2.1274
    },
    {
     "town": "Enfield",
     "distance": 2.135
    },
    {
     "town": "Winchester",
     "distance": 2.1389
    },
    {
     "town": "Southington",
     "distance": 2.1549
    },
    {
     "town": "Morris",
     "distance": 2.1559
    },
    {
     "town": "Orange",
     "distance": 2.1619
    },
    {
     "town": "Westbrook",
     "distance": 2.1662
    },
    {
     "town": "Wallingford",
     "distance": 2.1704
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haven",
     "distance": 2.1944
    },
    {
     "town": "Vernon",
     "distance": 2.2096
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Lyme",
     "distance": 2.2108
    },
    {
     "town": "Madison",
     "distance": 2.2423
    },
    {
     "town": "Sherman",
     "distance": 2.2598
    },
    {
     "town": "Farmington",
     "distance": 2.2958
    },
    {
     "town": "Union",
     "distance": 2.3219
    },
    {
     "town": "Naugatuck",
     "distance": 2.3247
    },
    {
     "town": "Torrington",
     "distance": 2.3434
    },
    {
     "town": "Monroe",
     "distance": 2.3676
    },
    {
     "town": "Stonington",
     "distance": 2.4236
    },
    {
     "town": "Branford",
     "distance": 2.4744
    },
    {
     "town": "New London",
     "distance": 2.5324
    },
    {
     "town": "Manchester",
     "distance": 2.5405
    },
    {
     "town": "Shelton",
     "distance": 2.5456
    },
    {
     "town": "Glastonbury",
     "distance": 2.5552
    },
    {
     "town": "Hampton",
     "distance": 2.5555
    },
    {
     "town": "Goshen",
     "distance": 2.577
    },
    {
     "town": "Derby",
     "distance": 2.6282
    },
    {
     "town": "Middletown",
     "distance": 2.6383
    },
    {
     "town": "Essex",
     "distance": 2.6433
    },
    {
     "town": "West Hartford",
     "distance": 2.6442
    },
    {
     "town": "Milford",
     "distance": 2.645
    },
    {
     "town": "South Windsor",
     "distance": 2.6614
    },
    {
     "town": "Hamden",
     "distance": 2.663
    },
    {
     "town": "Ansonia",
     "distance": 2.6959
    },
    {
     "town": "Norfolk",
     "distance": 2.716
    },
    {
     "town": "Danbury",
     "distance": 2.7302
    },
    {
     "town": "Trumbull",
     "distance": 2.7336
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Saybrook",
     "distance": 2.7549
    },
    {
     "town": "Canaan",
     "distance": 2.7783
    },
    {
     "town": "West Haven",
     "distance": 2.8055
    },
    {
     "town": "Bristol",
     "distance": 2.8124
    },
    {
     "town": "Lyme",
     "distance": 2.8125
    },
    {
     "town": "Stratford",
     "distance": 2.8387
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwich",
     "distance": 2.8731
    },
    {
     "town": "Ridgefield",
     "distance": 2.9992
    },
    {
     "town": "Fairfield",
     "distance": 3.0013
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwalk",
     "distance": 3.0552
    },
    {
     "town": "Sterling",
     "distance": 3.1381
    },
    {
     "town": "Kent",
     "distance": 3.2198
    },
    {
     "town": "Meriden",
     "distance": 3.2856
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgewater",
     "distance": 3.3805
    },
    {
     "town": "Warren",
     "distance": 3.3928
    },
    {
     "town": "New Haven",
     "distance": 3.4249
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hartford",
     "distance": 3.4553
    },
    {
     "town": "Stamford",
     "distance": 3.4826
    },
    {
     "town": "Mansfield",
     "distance": 3.4898
    },
    {
     "town": "Cornwall",
     "distance": 3.5016
    },
    {
     "town": "Windham",
     "distance": 3.537
    },
    {
     "town": "Salisbury",
     "distance": 3.6103
    },
    {
     "town": "Weston",
     "distance": 3.6373
    },
    {
     "town": "Wilton",
     "distance": 3.6665
    },
    {
     "town": "New Britain",
     "distance": 4.1207
    },
    {
     "town": "Washington",
     "distance": 4.1246
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgeport",
     "distance": 4.1385
    },
    {
     "town": "Roxbury",
     "distance": 4.1455
    },
    {
     "town": "New Canaan",
     "distance": 4.2591
    },
    {
     "town": "Greenwich",
     "distance": 4.3259
    },
    {
     "town": "Westport",
     "distance": 4.394
    },
    {
     "town": "Sharon",
     "distance": 4.594
    },
    {
     "town": "Darien",
     "distance": 4.6576
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartford",
     "distance": 5.3134
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterbury",
     "distance": 5.4087
    }
   ]
  },
  "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": [
    "Lisbon",
    "Preston",
    "Columbia",
    "Pomfret",
    "Canterbury",
    "Sterling",
    "Bolton",
    "New Hartford",
    "Sprague",
    "Portland",
    "Harwinton",
    "Thomaston"
   ],
   "ranked": [
    {
     "town": "Lisbon",
     "distance": 0.1069
    },
    {
     "town": "Preston",
     "distance": 0.4348
    },
    {
     "town": "Columbia",
     "distance": 0.4768
    },
    {
     "town": "Pomfret",
     "distance": 0.4775
    },
    {
     "town": "Canterbury",
     "distance": 0.506
    },
    {
     "town": "Sterling",
     "distance": 0.5399
    },
    {
     "town": "Bolton",
     "distance": 0.5648
    },
    {
     "town": "New Hartford",
     "distance": 0.5732
    },
    {
     "town": "Sprague",
     "distance": 0.599
    },
    {
     "town": "Portland",
     "distance": 0.6401
    },
    {
     "town": "Harwinton",
     "distance": 0.6676
    },
    {
     "town": "Thomaston",
     "distance": 0.6678
    },
    {
     "town": "Hebron",
     "distance": 0.6691
    },
    {
     "town": "Durham",
     "distance": 0.6895
    },
    {
     "town": "Beacon Falls",
     "distance": 0.7038
    },
    {
     "town": "Brooklyn",
     "distance": 0.706
    },
    {
     "town": "Lebanon",
     "distance": 0.7259
    },
    {
     "town": "Putnam",
     "distance": 0.7304
    },
    {
     "town": "Ashford",
     "distance": 0.7489
    },
    {
     "town": "Barkhamsted",
     "distance": 0.754
    },
    {
     "town": "Prospect",
     "distance": 0.7572
    },
    {
     "town": "Somers",
     "distance": 0.7659
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodstock",
     "distance": 0.7693
    },
    {
     "town": "Marlborough",
     "distance": 0.7725
    },
    {
     "town": "Chaplin",
     "distance": 0.8082
    },
    {
     "town": "Andover",
     "distance": 0.8175
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlefield",
     "distance": 0.8471
    },
    {
     "town": "Haddam",
     "distance": 0.8483
    },
    {
     "town": "Coventry",
     "distance": 0.8545
    },
    {
     "town": "Stafford",
     "distance": 0.8608
    },
    {
     "town": "Voluntown",
     "distance": 0.8943
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingworth",
     "distance": 0.9423
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hampton",
     "distance": 0.9753
    },
    {
     "town": "Willington",
     "distance": 1.0012
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainfield",
     "distance": 1.0213
    },
    {
     "town": "North Canaan",
     "distance": 1.0351
    },
    {
     "town": "North Stonington",
     "distance": 1.0468
    },
    {
     "town": "Derby",
     "distance": 1.0474
    },
    {
     "town": "Burlington",
     "distance": 1.0498
    },
    {
     "town": "Griswold",
     "distance": 1.0573
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor Locks",
     "distance": 1.0668
    },
    {
     "town": "North Branford",
     "distance": 1.0771
    },
    {
     "town": "Canton",
     "distance": 1.0876
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethany",
     "distance": 1.0917
    },
    {
     "town": "Seymour",
     "distance": 1.1009
    },
    {
     "town": "Suffield",
     "distance": 1.1055
    },
    {
     "town": "Granby",
     "distance": 1.1065
    },
    {
     "town": "Plymouth",
     "distance": 1.1111
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlebury",
     "distance": 1.1113
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haddam",
     "distance": 1.1254
    },
    {
     "town": "Colchester",
     "distance": 1.1347
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainville",
     "distance": 1.1591
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingly",
     "distance": 1.1608
    },
    {
     "town": "Winchester",
     "distance": 1.1664
    },
    {
     "town": "Wolcott",
     "distance": 1.1964
    },
    {
     "town": "Bozrah",
     "distance": 1.2054
    },
    {
     "town": "Montville",
     "distance": 1.2064
    },
    {
     "town": "Deep River",
     "distance": 1.2104
    },
    {
     "town": "Cromwell",
     "distance": 1.225
    },
    {
     "town": "Franklin",
     "distance": 1.2435
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   ]
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 },
 "target_statewide_percentiles": {
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   "percentile": 62.1,
   "statewide_median": 0.2055
  }
 }
}