Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County is a county in Connecticut, United States, in the state’s northwest corner, about 35 miles west of Hartford and bordering both Massachusetts and New York. It had a population of 185,186 at the 2020 census, an estimated 185,175 by 2021, and covers 921 square miles (2,390 km2) of land centred near 41°47′N 73°14′W.

Litchfield is the county seat, a role that has been symbolic only since Connecticut abolished county government in 1960; its postal code is 06759. The county holds 1 city and 25 towns — 26 municipalities in all — and it runs on Eastern time. Its FIPS code is 09005. Connecticut has no county governments and no unincorporated land: every acre in Litchfield County sits inside one of its 26 towns, and since 2022 the Census Bureau’s statistical geography here splits across three planning regions — 19 towns (including Torrington) fall in the Northwest Hills Planning Region, five in the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region (Bethlehem, Plymouth, Thomaston, Watertown, Woodbury), and two in the Western Connecticut Planning Region (Bridgewater, New Milford).

Towns & Villages in Litchfield County

All 26 places below are incorporated towns or a city under Connecticut law — there are no unincorporated communities or CDP-only gaps to list separately. Torrington holds a city charter; the rest are towns, including Litchfield, the historic seat.

Two town names are easy to swap: the town of Canaan (population 1,080) is known locally by its principal village, Falls Village, and mails through 06031, while North Canaan (population 3,211), a separate town to its north, contains the actual village and post office named Canaan, at 06018. They are not the same place and do not border each other on every side — check the ZIP before assuming which one a listing means.

ZIP Codes

• 06790 — Torrington
• 06776 — New Milford (also serves Gaylordsville, 06755)
• 06795 — Watertown (the Oakville village center uses 06779)
• 06782 — Plymouth (the Terryville village center uses 06786)
• 06098 — Winchester (Winsted)
• 06798 — Woodbury
• 06759 — Litchfield (Bantam uses 06750, Northfield 06778)
• 06787 — Thomaston
• 06057 — New Hartford
• 06791 — Harwinton
• 06068 — Salisbury (Lakeville uses 06039)
• 06063 — Barkhamsted
• 06793 — Washington (New Preston uses 06777, Washington Depot 06794)
• 06751 — Bethlehem
• 06018 — North Canaan
• 06756 — Goshen
• 06757 — Kent
• 06069 — Sharon
• 06783 — Roxbury
• 06763 — Morris
• 06752 — Bridgewater
• 06058 — Norfolk
• 06753 — Cornwall (Cornwall Bridge uses 06754, West Cornwall 06796)
• 06021 — Colebrook
• 06031 — Canaan (Falls Village)

Warren has no post office or ZIP code of its own; its mail runs through neighboring Cornwall Bridge, 06754.

Geography

Litchfield County is the largest in Connecticut by land area and has the lowest population density of any county in the state. Its western towns rise into the foothills of the Berkshires and the Taconic Range; the south slope of Mount Frissell in Salisbury, at 2,380 feet, is the highest point in Connecticut, and Bear Mountain nearby is the state’s highest point wholly on the Appalachian Trail. The Housatonic River runs south through Kent, Cornwall, Sharon and Salisbury below those ridges, while the Farmington River drains the county’s eastern towns, feeding the Barkhamsted Reservoir that supplies much of the Hartford area’s drinking water. Bantam Lake, in Litchfield and Morris, is the largest natural lake entirely within Connecticut; Candlewood Lake, the state’s largest lake overall, reaches into the county at New Milford.

Litchfield County borders Berkshire County, Massachusetts to the north; Hampden County, Massachusetts to the northeast; Hartford County to the east; New Haven County to the southeast; Fairfield County to the south; and Dutchess County, New York to the west.

Demographics

The county counted 185,186 residents at the 2020 census, an estimated 185,175 by 2021 — population has stayed essentially flat this decade. Torrington (35,515) and New Milford (28,115) are its two largest towns; Watertown (22,105) and Plymouth (11,671) follow. Median household income was $84,797 in 2021, below the statewide Connecticut figure of $91,700 (2023). At 921 square miles of land, the county’s overall population density works out to about 200 residents per square mile, though this varies from around 890 per square mile in Torrington to under 35 in rural Canaan.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector (about 14,440 workers), ahead of manufacturing (about 11,390) and retail trade (about 11,350). Torrington’s economy grew up around 19th-century brass and bearing manufacturing; Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, a pre-professional ballet school, are among its larger employers today. Woodbury has marketed itself as Connecticut’s antiques capital since the mid-20th century, its mile-long historic district lined with dealers. The county also holds an unusual concentration of New England boarding schools — The Hotchkiss School and Salisbury School in Salisbury, The Kent School and South Kent School in Kent, and The Taft School in Watertown among them. Agriculture and tourism run through the Litchfield Hills wine trail and Mohawk Mountain, Connecticut’s first ski area with snowmaking, in Cornwall. The county’s biggest annual event, the Goshen Fair, one of the state’s oldest continuously running agricultural fairs, runs each Labor Day weekend in September.

History

Litchfield County was established on October 9, 1751, formed from land belonging to Fairfield, New Haven and Hartford counties, and named for Lichfield, England. Litchfield itself became the seat that year and grew into a Revolutionary-era center of learning: Tapping Reeve opened the Litchfield Law School there in 1784, the first law school in the United States, training more than 1,100 students including Aaron Burr; Sarah Pierce founded the Litchfield Female Academy in 1792, one of the country’s first schools for the higher education of women. Torrington, settled in 1735, is the birthplace of the abolitionist John Brown, born there in 1800. During the Civil War the county raised the 2nd Connecticut Regiment of Volunteer Heavy Artillery, which suffered the heaviest proportionate losses of any Connecticut regiment in the war.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Litchfield County. Route 8 runs north–south through Torrington and Winsted; Route 7 follows the Housatonic through New Milford, Kent, Cornwall and Sharon; Routes 44, 202 and 63 connect the county’s smaller towns.

• Hartford — 35 miles east
• Waterbury — 15 miles south
• Danbury — 20 miles southwest
• New York City — 90 miles southwest

Bradley International Airport, Connecticut’s busiest, is about 45 miles east near Hartford; the closer Waterbury-Oxford Airport, just south of the county line, handles general aviation only. No Amtrak station lies within the county; the nearest is Union Station in Hartford, about 35 miles east.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Litchfield County?
It sits in Connecticut’s northwest corner, bordering both Massachusetts and New York.

What is Litchfield County’s population?
185,186 at the 2020 census, an estimated 185,175 by 2021, spread thinner than anywhere else in Connecticut.

How big is Litchfield County?
921 square miles (2,390 km2) of land, the largest of Connecticut’s eight counties by area.

What is the county seat of Litchfield County?
Litchfield, though the title is now honorary — Connecticut abolished county government in 1960, and towns run their own affairs.

How many towns are in Litchfield County?
26 in total: 1 city, Torrington, and 25 towns.

Which ZIP codes are in Litchfield County?
Codes run from 06018 (North Canaan) to 06798 (Woodbury); the full list by town is above.

Does the Appalachian Trail pass through Litchfield County?
Yes. Connecticut’s entire 52-mile Appalachian Trail section runs through the county’s western towns, including Kent, Cornwall and Salisbury, along the ridges above the Housatonic River valley.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Connecticut.