How the Pandemic Reshaped Fairfield County’s Economy

06.17.2026

Economy

Featured

The Connecticut economy has seen significant changes in its economic structure and fortunes during the post-COVID period, but the regional impact of these changes has varied.

Southwest Connecticut has been at the forefront of the new economy, shaped by changing demographics and populations.

During the years leading up to the pandemic, Southwest Connecticut was a laggard with respect to job growth.

From 2015-2019, the Bridgeport-Stamford labor market area was among the worst performing regions in the state, losing 1.4% of its payroll jobs during that period while the state’s overall payrolls grew 0.5%.

This in a state that was already substantially trailing U.S. growth.

Region	2015-2019
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury	−1.4% ← worst
Connecticut (overall)	0.5%
Norwich-New London	0.6%
Hartford	1.6%
Waterbury-Shelton	1.7%
New Haven	2.7% ← best
U.S.	6.4%

Sector Job Growth

The poor performance was also spread fairly consistently across industries.

Key industries like financial activities and manufacturing saw considerable declines in employment, dropping 9.2% and 5.6% respectively.

The manufacturing sector in particular stands out, as the state saw substantial growth over the same period at 3.2%.

Sector	Region	Connecticut
Financial Activities	−9.2%	−4.9%
Manufacturing	−5.6%	3.2%
Trade, Transportation & Utilities	−4.5%	−1.3%
Professional & Business Services	−3.2%	−0.1%
Government	−3.1%	−3.2%
Information	8.1%	−2.8%
Construction	5.3%	2.8%
Leisure & Hospitality	4.7%	4.3%

The declines were particularly painful as they often occurred in some of the highest paying, economy-driving industries such as management or finance and insurance.

Sector	Net Jobs 2015-2019	%	Weekly Wage (2019)
Finance & Insurance	−3,644	−10.5%	$5,337
Manufacturing	−3,337	−9.8%	$1,868
Management of Companies (corporate HQs)	−1,415	−10.2%	$3,930

Changing Fortunes

COVID appears to have changed the fortunes of the region however, as it has seen some of the fastest growth since 2019.

Total payrolls have climbed 2.3% in the six years since, second fastest in the state behind only New Haven.

Despite stronger growth during the span, the region and the state still trailed the U.S. by a significant margin.

Metro	Pre-COVID (2015-2019)	Post-COVID (2019-2025)
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury	−1.4% (worst of 5)	2.3% (2nd of 5)
New Haven	2.7% (best)	2.4% (best)
Hartford	1.6%	1.1%
Waterbury-Shelton	1.7% (2nd)	−3.1% (worst)
Norwich-New London	0.6%	−1.3%
Connecticut	0.5%	1.2%
United States	6.4%	5%

Industry Mix

The industry mix for the change in jobs has been more nuanced however.

While key industries like manufacturing saw a slight increase in jobs post-pandemic, financial activities and professional and business services continued to decline or stayed flat.

Finance in particular continues to struggle in the state in recent years, despite it remaining the largest contributor to state GDP.

However, the clear leader in both regional and statewide employment has been education and health services, which is primarily centered in healthcare.

Sector employment accounts for 8,800 jobs of new growth, which is essentially all of the net job growth in the region over the period.

Sector	Region (pre-COVID)	Region (post-COVID)	Connecticut (pre-COVID)	Connecticut (post-COVID)
Manufacturing	−5.6%	1.8%	3.2%	−5.8%
Financial Activities	−9.2%	−1.8%	−4.9%	−5.4%
Trade, Transportation & Utilities	−4.5%	−0.6%	−1.3%	1.8%
Professional & Business Services	−3.2%	0%	−0.1%	1%
Education & Health Services	3.2%	11.4%	4%	8.1%
Information	8.1%	3.9%	−2.8%	−3.9%
Leisure & Hospitality	4.7%	1.2%	4.3%	−1%
Other Services	2.8%	3%	2.3%	−1.2%
Construction	5.3%	5.3%	2.8%	7.4%
Government	−3.1%	−2.3%	−3.2%	0%

Population Trends

The region’s reversal of economic fortunes has coincided with a turnaround in population.

Through the pre-pandemic years, Southwest Connecticut was was essentially flat from 2015 to 2019 (−0.2%).

Since COVID, the picture has changed markedly, as the region grew +3.1% from 2020 to 2024, outpacing the state (2.7%).

Region	Population Growth 2015-2019	Population Growth 2020-2024
Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury	−0.2%	3.1%
Connecticut	−0.6%	2.7%

The driver was a dramatic swing in migration. Before COVID, the region shed a net ~13,500 residents to migration over four years—a persistent domestic outflow (~8,000/year leaving for other states) only partly offset by international arrivals.

After COVID, net migration turned strongly positive (plus 19,500 over 2020–2024)—a roughly 33,000-person swing.

Despite the uptick in domestic migration, the durable driver has been a surge in international migration, which roughly tripled from ~4,500/year before COVID to nearly 15,000 in 2024.

Year (post-COVID)	Net Domestic	Net International	Total Net Migration
2021	2,803	2,436	5,239
2022	−8,619	8,904	285
2023	−6,903	12,128	5,225
2024	−5,994	14,699	8,705

Commuting

Few places in Connecticut are as tied to another state’s economy as Southwest Connecticut.

Roughly one in five of the region’s employed residents holds a job located out of state—overwhelmingly in New York—about double the statewide rate (~11%).

Fairfield County alone accounts for nearly half of all Connecticut residents who work out of state.

That trend deepened modestly after COVID. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of jobs physically located in the region was flat (−0.3%), even as the number of jobs held by its residents grew 2.1%—the region increasingly houses workers employed elsewhere.

Residents holding out-of-state (mostly New York City) jobs rose 4.3%, while in-commuting from New York slipped.

Fairfield County residents also commuted more to other Connecticut counties (12%).

This may be partly explained by an increase in workers who work remotely for New York or other out-of-state employers, a nuance not captured in the LODES data.

Fairfield County (LODES)	2019	2023	Change
Jobs located in the region	419,512	418,176	−0.3%
Jobs held by region residents	415,168	423,903	2.1%
… held out of state	82,161	85,692	4.3%