The number of eviction filings in Connecticut was far below the national average in 2025, according to a recent report by Princeton University’s Eviction Lab. Researchers tracked 38 cities across 10 states.
The report shows on a national scale, Fairfield County had the largest drop in evictions, according to Grace Hartley, Senior Research Specialist with the Eviction Lab.
“Typically in these sites with lower rates, we see that there is more tenant friendly legislation in place,” Hartley said. “In some places that looks like a right to counsel program, a higher eviction filing fee, so landlords have to pay more to file the filing in court.”
There’s no clear reason why eviction rates fell in Connecticut in 2025, as no new policies or laws were enacted, but Connecticut has several of the recommended tenant protections in place, Hartley said.
Since the tracker includes cities and states of drastically different populations, the lab created a baseline of about one eviction filing for every 13 rented homes nationwide, Hartley said.
The Bridgeport area had the largest drop in eviction filings among all tracked cities.
Bridgeport’s strong Fair Rent Commission and an increase in tenants rights awareness may have led to an increase in tenants successfully contesting evictions.
However, the area also had a disproportionately high rate of evictions for renters of color, according to Hartley.
Although only 19% of renters in Fairfield County are Black, they made up 36% of the area’s evictions last year. The trend is consistent for Hartford County as well.
“This is a similar trend to what we see nationally, but in Fairfield County, the Black renters were filed against a disproportionate rate compared to white renters,” Hartley said.
The reason behind Fairfield County’s dip in overall evictions is unclear, according to Connecticut Tenants Union Vice President Luke Melonakos-Harrison.
Melonakos-Harrison believes it could have to do with more awareness among tenants.
“There is no legislation that has passed that has made evictions harder for landlords or more expensive, or anything like that,” Melonakos-Harrison said. “I really cannot think of anything that could be cited, other than more tenant organizing, more awareness that tenant rights are a thing and maybe a broader consciousness amongst tenants of at least a willingness to check,” Melonakos-Harrison said.
