{
 "metadata": {
  "purpose": "Rule-based peer sets for Shelton, 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 Shelton 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 D) 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": "Shelton",
 "variable_stats": {
  "population": {
   "label": "Population (CT DPH estimate)",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 9.392518,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 1.111223,
   "target_raw": 42144
  },
  "enrollment": {
   "label": "Average Daily Membership enrollment",
   "log_transformed": true,
   "mean_of_transformed": 7.309335,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 1.228189,
   "target_raw": 4667.45
  },
  "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": 203208.862495
  },
  "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": 0.11075
  },
  "unemployment": {
   "label": "Unemployment rate, annual average",
   "log_transformed": false,
   "mean_of_transformed": 0.030079,
   "stdev_of_transformed": 0.00449,
   "target_raw": 0.034
  }
 },
 "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": [
    "Bloomfield",
    "Watertown",
    "Stratford",
    "Windsor",
    "East Haven",
    "Middletown",
    "Hamden",
    "Bristol",
    "Torrington",
    "Killingly",
    "Enfield",
    "Windsor Locks"
   ],
   "ranked": [
    {
     "town": "Bloomfield",
     "distance": 0.6455
    },
    {
     "town": "Watertown",
     "distance": 0.9922
    },
    {
     "town": "Stratford",
     "distance": 1.0448
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor",
     "distance": 1.0929
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haven",
     "distance": 1.1143
    },
    {
     "town": "Middletown",
     "distance": 1.1318
    },
    {
     "town": "Hamden",
     "distance": 1.1331
    },
    {
     "town": "Bristol",
     "distance": 1.2137
    },
    {
     "town": "Torrington",
     "distance": 1.2137
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingly",
     "distance": 1.2222
    },
    {
     "town": "Enfield",
     "distance": 1.2534
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor Locks",
     "distance": 1.2666
    },
    {
     "town": "Seymour",
     "distance": 1.2834
    },
    {
     "town": "Milford",
     "distance": 1.3107
    },
    {
     "town": "Groton",
     "distance": 1.349
    },
    {
     "town": "New Milford",
     "distance": 1.3528
    },
    {
     "town": "New London",
     "distance": 1.3675
    },
    {
     "town": "Southbury",
     "distance": 1.3822
    },
    {
     "town": "Wallingford",
     "distance": 1.3833
    },
    {
     "town": "Manchester",
     "distance": 1.3899
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainfield",
     "distance": 1.4045
    },
    {
     "town": "Branford",
     "distance": 1.4246
    },
    {
     "town": "East Windsor",
     "distance": 1.4464
    },
    {
     "town": "North Branford",
     "distance": 1.4779
    },
    {
     "town": "Stafford",
     "distance": 1.4879
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwalk",
     "distance": 1.5025
    },
    {
     "town": "West Haven",
     "distance": 1.5025
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainville",
     "distance": 1.5072
    },
    {
     "town": "Cromwell",
     "distance": 1.5391
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterford",
     "distance": 1.5464
    },
    {
     "town": "Putnam",
     "distance": 1.5588
    },
    {
     "town": "Coventry",
     "distance": 1.5629
    },
    {
     "town": "Vernon",
     "distance": 1.5642
    },
    {
     "town": "Winchester",
     "distance": 1.5828
    },
    {
     "town": "North Haven",
     "distance": 1.5836
    },
    {
     "town": "Thompson",
     "distance": 1.5972
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haddam",
     "distance": 1.6084
    },
    {
     "town": "Berlin",
     "distance": 1.6336
    },
    {
     "town": "Newington",
     "distance": 1.6753
    },
    {
     "town": "Southington",
     "distance": 1.6758
    },
    {
     "town": "Stonington",
     "distance": 1.6824
    },
    {
     "town": "Wolcott",
     "distance": 1.7313
    },
    {
     "town": "Prospect",
     "distance": 1.7385
    },
    {
     "town": "Somers",
     "distance": 1.7617
    },
    {
     "town": "Danbury",
     "distance": 1.7736
    },
    {
     "town": "Rocky Hill",
     "distance": 1.7758
    },
    {
     "town": "Montville",
     "distance": 1.7947
    },
    {
     "town": "Lebanon",
     "distance": 1.803
    },
    {
     "town": "Naugatuck",
     "distance": 1.8031
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbury",
     "distance": 1.8096
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwich",
     "distance": 1.8111
    },
    {
     "town": "Suffield",
     "distance": 1.8329
    },
    {
     "town": "Brookfield",
     "distance": 1.8378
    },
    {
     "town": "Wethersfield",
     "distance": 1.8391
    },
    {
     "town": "Fairfield",
     "distance": 1.8581
    },
    {
     "town": "Portland",
     "distance": 1.8625
    },
    {
     "town": "Newtown",
     "distance": 1.8652
    },
    {
     "town": "East Lyme",
     "distance": 1.8667
    },
    {
     "town": "New Haven",
     "distance": 1.8686
    },
    {
     "town": "Stamford",
     "distance": 1.8902
    },
    {
     "town": "Plymouth",
     "distance": 1.8998
    },
    {
     "town": "Cheshire",
     "distance": 1.9049
    },
    {
     "town": "Thomaston",
     "distance": 1.9183
    },
    {
     "town": "Ansonia",
     "distance": 1.9421
    },
    {
     "town": "Oxford",
     "distance": 1.9593
    },
    {
     "town": "Derby",
     "distance": 1.9621
    },
    {
     "town": "Colchester",
     "distance": 1.9624
    },
    {
     "town": "Griswold",
     "distance": 1.9715
    },
    {
     "town": "Brooklyn",
     "distance": 1.989
    },
    {
     "town": "Litchfield",
     "distance": 2.0096
    },
    {
     "town": "Ellington",
     "distance": 2.0277
    },
    {
     "town": "Willington",
     "distance": 2.0401
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hampton",
     "distance": 2.0809
    },
    {
     "town": "Beacon Falls",
     "distance": 2.0825
    },
    {
     "town": "New Fairfield",
     "distance": 2.0876
    },
    {
     "town": "Canterbury",
     "distance": 2.1123
    },
    {
     "town": "Preston",
     "distance": 2.1256
    },
    {
     "town": "Guilford",
     "distance": 2.1741
    },
    {
     "town": "Redding",
     "distance": 2.1817
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethel",
     "distance": 2.1821
    },
    {
     "town": "Clinton",
     "distance": 2.2006
    },
    {
     "town": "Canton",
     "distance": 2.2179
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodstock",
     "distance": 2.2184
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingworth",
     "distance": 2.2513
    },
    {
     "town": "Columbia",
     "distance": 2.2732
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethlehem",
     "distance": 2.3078
    },
    {
     "town": "Meriden",
     "distance": 2.3085
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlefield",
     "distance": 2.3158
    },
    {
     "town": "Haddam",
     "distance": 2.3203
    },
    {
     "town": "Ashford",
     "distance": 2.3378
    },
    {
     "town": "North Canaan",
     "distance": 2.3456
    },
    {
     "town": "West Hartford",
     "distance": 2.3531
    },
    {
     "town": "Westbrook",
     "distance": 2.3688
    },
    {
     "town": "Lisbon",
     "distance": 2.3766
    },
    {
     "town": "Middlebury",
     "distance": 2.3886
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgeport",
     "distance": 2.4015
    },
    {
     "town": "Granby",
     "distance": 2.4388
    },
    {
     "town": "Ledyard",
     "distance": 2.4608
    },
    {
     "town": "Hebron",
     "distance": 2.4659
    },
    {
     "town": "Madison",
     "distance": 2.4681
    },
    {
     "town": "Chester",
     "distance": 2.5139
    },
    {
     "town": "New Hartford",
     "distance": 2.5152
    },
    {
     "town": "Mansfield",
     "distance": 2.5176
    },
    {
     "town": "Burlington",
     "distance": 2.5433
    },
    {
     "town": "Salem",
     "distance": 2.5456
    },
    {
     "town": "Simsbury",
     "distance": 2.5497
    },
    {
     "town": "North Stonington",
     "distance": 2.5894
    },
    {
     "town": "Trumbull",
     "distance": 2.6006
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hartford",
     "distance": 2.6049
    },
    {
     "town": "Harwinton",
     "distance": 2.611
    },
    {
     "town": "Farmington",
     "distance": 2.6162
    },
    {
     "town": "Marlborough",
     "distance": 2.6163
    },
    {
     "town": "Pomfret",
     "distance": 2.6243
    },
    {
     "town": "Sprague",
     "distance": 2.631
    },
    {
     "town": "Avon",
     "distance": 2.6418
    },
    {
     "town": "Deep River",
     "distance": 2.643
    },
    {
     "town": "Andover",
     "distance": 2.6543
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Saybrook",
     "distance": 2.6864
    },
    {
     "town": "Monroe",
     "distance": 2.7589
    },
    {
     "town": "Old Lyme",
     "distance": 2.7624
    },
    {
     "town": "Bolton",
     "distance": 2.7779
    },
    {
     "town": "Barkhamsted",
     "distance": 2.782
    },
    {
     "town": "Tolland",
     "distance": 2.7861
    },
    {
     "town": "Voluntown",
     "distance": 2.8139
    },
    {
     "town": "Windham",
     "distance": 2.8323
    },
    {
     "town": "Chaplin",
     "distance": 2.8575
    },
    {
     "town": "Glastonbury",
     "distance": 2.8619
    },
    {
     "town": "Orange",
     "distance": 2.913
    },
    {
     "town": "Easton",
     "distance": 2.9374
    },
    {
     "town": "Essex",
     "distance": 2.9555
    },
    {
     "town": "Franklin",
     "distance": 3.0341
    },
    {
     "town": "New Britain",
     "distance": 3.054
    },
    {
     "town": "Durham",
     "distance": 3.0544
    },
    {
     "town": "Morris",
     "distance": 3.0664
    },
    {
     "town": "Sterling",
     "distance": 3.0791
    },
    {
     "town": "Sherman",
     "distance": 3.0835
    },
    {
     "town": "Bethany",
     "distance": 3.0875
    },
    {
     "town": "East Granby",
     "distance": 3.0954
    },
    {
     "town": "Eastford",
     "distance": 3.1749
    },
    {
     "town": "Colebrook",
     "distance": 3.1832
    },
    {
     "town": "South Windsor",
     "distance": 3.2026
    },
    {
     "town": "Ridgefield",
     "distance": 3.2471
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartland",
     "distance": 3.2509
    },
    {
     "town": "Hampton",
     "distance": 3.3273
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbridge",
     "distance": 3.3331
    },
    {
     "town": "Bozrah",
     "distance": 3.3477
    },
    {
     "town": "Scotland",
     "distance": 3.4145
    },
    {
     "town": "Greenwich",
     "distance": 3.4154
    },
    {
     "town": "Goshen",
     "distance": 3.4986
    },
    {
     "town": "Canaan",
     "distance": 3.5228
    },
    {
     "town": "Kent",
     "distance": 3.5316
    },
    {
     "town": "Lyme",
     "distance": 3.6607
    },
    {
     "town": "Norfolk",
     "distance": 3.6918
    },
    {
     "town": "Salisbury",
     "distance": 3.7868
    },
    {
     "town": "Union",
     "distance": 3.8078
    },
    {
     "town": "Warren",
     "distance": 3.9911
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterbury",
     "distance": 4.1625
    },
    {
     "town": "Bridgewater",
     "distance": 4.2354
    },
    {
     "town": "Wilton",
     "distance": 4.2419
    },
    {
     "town": "Hartford",
     "distance": 4.2508
    },
    {
     "town": "Westport",
     "distance": 4.3246
    },
    {
     "town": "New Canaan",
     "distance": 4.3869
    },
    {
     "town": "Washington",
     "distance": 4.3997
    },
    {
     "town": "Cornwall",
     "distance": 4.4082
    },
    {
     "town": "Weston",
     "distance": 4.4121
    },
    {
     "town": "Roxbury",
     "distance": 4.7714
    },
    {
     "town": "Darien",
     "distance": 4.8517
    },
    {
     "town": "Sharon",
     "distance": 4.9375
    }
   ]
  },
  "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": [
    "Milford",
    "Groton",
    "Wallingford",
    "Bloomfield",
    "Southbury",
    "New Milford",
    "Watertown",
    "Newington",
    "Rocky Hill",
    "Windsor",
    "Berlin",
    "Stratford"
   ],
   "ranked": [
    {
     "town": "Milford",
     "distance": 0.3663
    },
    {
     "town": "Groton",
     "distance": 0.3794
    },
    {
     "town": "Wallingford",
     "distance": 0.5077
    },
    {
     "town": "Bloomfield",
     "distance": 0.5648
    },
    {
     "town": "Southbury",
     "distance": 0.6345
    },
    {
     "town": "New Milford",
     "distance": 0.7072
    },
    {
     "town": "Watertown",
     "distance": 0.7197
    },
    {
     "town": "Newington",
     "distance": 0.767
    },
    {
     "town": "Rocky Hill",
     "distance": 0.8096
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor",
     "distance": 0.8146
    },
    {
     "town": "Berlin",
     "distance": 0.8811
    },
    {
     "town": "Stratford",
     "distance": 0.893
    },
    {
     "town": "North Haven",
     "distance": 0.8943
    },
    {
     "town": "East Lyme",
     "distance": 0.8949
    },
    {
     "town": "Branford",
     "distance": 0.8981
    },
    {
     "town": "Middletown",
     "distance": 0.9066
    },
    {
     "town": "Suffield",
     "distance": 0.9412
    },
    {
     "town": "North Branford",
     "distance": 0.9467
    },
    {
     "town": "Hamden",
     "distance": 0.951
    },
    {
     "town": "Killingly",
     "distance": 0.9831
    },
    {
     "town": "Clinton",
     "distance": 0.9851
    },
    {
     "town": "Windsor Locks",
     "distance": 1.0394
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haven",
     "distance": 1.1009
    },
    {
     "town": "Enfield",
     "distance": 1.1016
    },
    {
     "town": "Cheshire",
     "distance": 1.1412
    },
    {
     "town": "Southington",
     "distance": 1.1421
    },
    {
     "town": "Waterford",
     "distance": 1.1458
    },
    {
     "town": "Seymour",
     "distance": 1.1586
    },
    {
     "town": "Bristol",
     "distance": 1.1914
    },
    {
     "town": "Torrington",
     "distance": 1.2071
    },
    {
     "town": "New London",
     "distance": 1.2094
    },
    {
     "town": "Norwalk",
     "distance": 1.2105
    },
    {
     "town": "Montville",
     "distance": 1.2253
    },
    {
     "town": "Oxford",
     "distance": 1.2292
    },
    {
     "town": "Cromwell",
     "distance": 1.2426
    },
    {
     "town": "Coventry",
     "distance": 1.2508
    },
    {
     "town": "Somers",
     "distance": 1.2552
    },
    {
     "town": "Wethersfield",
     "distance": 1.2569
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainfield",
     "distance": 1.2665
    },
    {
     "town": "East Haddam",
     "distance": 1.2734
    },
    {
     "town": "East Hampton",
     "distance": 1.2876
    },
    {
     "town": "Stamford",
     "distance": 1.2886
    },
    {
     "town": "Woodbury",
     "distance": 1.2933
    },
    {
     "town": "Newtown",
     "distance": 1.2969
    },
    {
     "town": "Plainville",
     "distance": 1.3001
    },
    {
     "town": "Danbury",
     "distance": 1.308
    },
    {
     "town": "Haddam",
     "distance": 1.3124
    },
    {
     "town": "East Windsor",
     "distance": 1.3183
    },
    {
     "town": "Stonington",
     "distance": 1.3231
    },
    {
     "town": "Stafford",
     "distance": 1.3411
    },
    {
     "town": "Manchester",
     "distance": 1.3574
    },
    {
     "town": "Guilford",
     "distance": 1.3842
    },
    {
     "town": "Putnam",
     "distance": 1.3887
    },
    {
     "town": "Winchester",
     "distance": 1.3978
    },
    {
     "town": "Derby",
     "distance": 1.4105
    },
    {
     "town": "Durham",
     "distance": 1.4355
    },
    {
     "town": "Lebanon",
     "distance": 1.4357
    },
    {
     "town": "Prospect",
     "distance": 1.4424
    },
    {
     "town": "Vernon",
     "distance": 1.4594
    },
    {
     "town": "West Hartford",
     "distance": 1.464
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 },
 "target_statewide_percentiles": {
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 }
}