PCS to Groton
Gray shingle house on a rocky shore with fall trees
PCS to Groton means Naval Submarine Base New London. The towns people ask about are Groton, New London, Ledyard, Waterford, and Mystic. The base is in Groton. The other four are not the same drive.
Military Realty works Northeast Florida. We refer the Connecticut buy. Call (904) 309-0609 with the report date and we will connect you.
Table of Contents
Naval Submarine Base New London
SUBASE New London is the installation, even when the conversation starts with Groton. Tell the local agent if you are reporting to the boat, the squadron, or a school. Housing timing changes with that answer.
The base sits in Groton, across the river from New London. A Groton address is not automatic proximity to the gate. The partner should prove the drive.
Groton, New London, Ledyard, Waterford, Mystic
Groton is the base town. New London is across the river, a real option, and a different morning. Ledyard sits inland of the base. Waterford is the coastal town on the New London side. Mystic is the farther of this set, and it draws people for the town more than for the gate.
Time the drive to the submarine base before you treat Mystic as a gate neighborhood. Groton's value index is in Local market intel. We will not price Ledyard, Waterford, or Mystic from here. We will not tell you which one is the choice for every boat. Rank, schools, and the actual gate decide that with a local agent. This page only stops you from treating five town names as one place.
BAH is your lookup
The 2026 E-5 with-dependents figure for the New London housing area is in Local market intel below. Connecticut rates are not FL058 rates. Do not reuse a Jacksonville number because both areas have submarines. Use the DTMO BAH Rate Lookup for your grade and your dependents.
Ask the local partner what that allowance is doing for renters and buyers in Groton, New London, Ledyard, Waterford, and Mystic. We will not answer that from Florida.
Timeline
Boat schedules move. A school date can be firmer than a boat's movement. Write the report date you have today, and update it when it changes. If you are selling in Jacksonville, do not wait for a perfect Connecticut date before you say the house needs to sell. The two clocks still have to meet.
The housing office and the movers are the official path. A referral agent is the civilian housing path. Start both while you still have weeks, not days. A Jacksonville 90-day writeup will not know the local commute. Keep a written countdown. Get the local dates from the partner.
What we will not guess
Groton's Zillow value is in Local market intel. We still will not rank a school in Groton, New London, Ledyard, or Waterford. Mystic gets the commute caution above and nothing dressed up as a recommendation. Insurance, heat, and the condition of an older house are local questions.
You will not see Groton homes posted on this page. The page exists so you reach a person who works SUBASE New London.
What to have ready when you call
Boat, school, or staff. Report date. Buy or rent. Dependents on the orders. And whether the Florida house needs a sale. Those facts are enough for a clean introduction.
Call (904) 309-0609. We handle the referral, and the Jacksonville sale if that sale is part of the PCS to Groton.
Local market intel
As of fall 2026. This is a submarine base on a river, in a state where the town line changes the tax bill.
The installation
Naval Submarine Base New London is the Navy's East Coast submarine base, in Groton on the Thames River, and the home of the submarine school. MyBaseGuide describes the installation as more than 680 acres, with seven submarine piers and more than 70 tenant commands. A current military headcount was not on that description.
2026 BAH
Military housing area CT049, New London. As of fall 2026, an E-5 with dependents is $2,580 a month. Garrison Ledger and MyBaseGuide publish the same full table from the DFAS rates effective January 1, 2026, including $2,148 without dependents. Confirm your own grade on the DTMO BAH Rate Lookup. A Jacksonville submarine tour does not share this allowance.
Housing market snapshot
Zillow's typical home value for Groton was $447,813 as of August 31, 2026, up 5.9 percent over the year, with homes going pending in around 8 days. Eight days is a tight market. The figure is Groton, not Ledyard, Waterford, or Stonington. Those towns do not owe you the same price or the same mill rate.
Where military families actually live
- Groton, including the City of Groton and the town around it. Closest to the base. The city and the town are not the same government. Ask which one the house is in before you assume the tax bill.
- New London. Across the river. A different school system. Closer than Mystic, and not automatically cheaper once you see the house.
- Ledyard and Gales Ferry. Inland and north. Families use them because the drive to the base is reasonable and the lots are larger. Gales Ferry is a village name you will hear. It is not its own base.
- Waterford. East of the river towns. A workable drive. Its own mill rate.
- Mystic. Split between Groton and Stonington. A tourist town. Time the drive to the submarine base before you treat it as a gate neighborhood.
- Uncasville and Oakdale, in Montville. Farther, sometimes more house. Only if the morning drive still works for a boat schedule.
Groton, New London, Ledyard, and Waterford run their own schools. We will not rank them. Enroll where the deed sits.
Rental snapshot
Median 3-bedroom rent: a verified figure was not pulled from the HUD FY2026 Fair Market Rent tables in this pass. An E-5 allowance of $2,580 does not tell you the rent. Older housing near the base can eat that allowance on a 3-bedroom once heat is in the lease or sitting next to it. Have the partner show three winter-realistic rentals, not three July photos.
Local quirks
Connecticut property tax is a town mill rate. Groton, Ledyard, Waterford, New London, and Stonington do not share one. There is no statewide homestead cap that behaves like Florida Save Our Homes. Conveyance tax has a state piece and a municipal piece. Who pays is a contract term. Do not assume a Florida stamp calculation.
Heat is the other quirk. A lot of the older stock is oil or an aging gas system. Florida PCS families leave it out of the payment and meet it in January. Insurance and the condition of a pre-war house belong to the local inspector, not to a Jacksonville guess.
VA loans: full entitlement, no VA loan limit since January 1, 2020. Partial entitlement uses the FHFA county limit. The 2026 baseline is $832,750 (FHFA, November 25, 2025). New London County's exact 2026 cap was not read off the FHFA county file here. At Groton's value index, many houses sit under the baseline. The old ones that need work are an appraisal problem, not a limit problem.
PCS timeline
The 90-day plan still works as a countdown. It does not know the Thames. Use the house-hunting trip to see the town in the dark, because eight-day markets do not wait for report week. School enrollment is the town, and Connecticut towns are serious about the line. Settle the Jacksonville house on sell, rent, or hold before you are heating two homes. Call (904) 309-0609.
PCS'ing somewhere else?
We have an extensive trusted referral network at all major Navy installations. We can coordinate your sell here and your buy there, or just your buy, with a trusted partner. Reach out today to be referred to an MRF trusted realtor, vetted personally by Matt.
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Call (904) 309-0609.
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