Dominant sectors of Stamford's economy include financial management and real estate, tourism, information technology, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, and retail.

Stamford was known as Rippowam by the Siwanoy Native American inhabitants of the region, and the very first European settlers in the area also called it that.

[10] The deed to Stamford was signed on July 1, 1640, between Captain Turner of the New Haven Colony and Chief Ponus.

By the 18th century, one of the town's primary industries was merchandising by water, which was possible due to Stamford's proximity to New York.

[12] In the 1960s and 1970s, Stamford's commercial real estate boomed as corporations relocated from New York City to peripheral areas.

Rich Company was the city-designated urban renewal developer of the downtown area in an ongoing, contentious project beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s.

Since 2008, an 80-acre (32-hectare) mixed-use redevelopment project for Stamford's Harbor Point neighborhood has added additional growth south of downtown.

The redevelopment plan included six million square feet (560,000 m2) of new residential, retail, office and hotel space, and a marina.

Stamford comprises approximately 45 distinct neighborhoods and villages, and two historic districts,[24] including Cove, East Side, Downtown, North Stamford, Glenbrook, West Side, Turn of River, Waterside, Springdale, Belltown, Ridgeway, Newfield, South End, Westover, Shippan, Roxbury, and Palmers Hill.

Stamford borders Pound Ridge, New York to the north, the Long Island Sound to the south, Greenwich to the west, Darien to the east, and New Canaan to the northeast.

Late day thundershowers are common in the hottest months (June through September), despite the mostly sunny skies.

Coastal Connecticut is the broad transition zone where so-called "subtropical indicator" plants and other broadleaf evergreens can be cultivated.

[43] The largest religious group in the city are Christians, followed by Judaism, Islam, and eastern religions including Hinduism and Buddhism.

Lower crime rates in Stamford are attributed to the city's robust economic growth in recent decades.

[8] Among the larger companies with headquarters in Stamford are Charter Communications, Harman International, Synchrony Financial, Indeed.com, Webster Bank, United Rentals, Conair, Gartner, Henkel North American Consumer Goods, WWE, Pitney Bowes, ITT Inc., Axa XL, Gen Re, NBC Sports Group, Nestle Waters North America, Crane Co. and Vineyard Vines.

[47] The Royal Bank of Scotland moved its North American operations into Stamford in 2009, including its RBS Greenwich Capital subsidiary.

The library has branches in South End, Springdale, and the Turn of River sections of the city, it also has a bookmobile that runs daily to different neighborhoods.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, former Attorney General George Jepsen, former U.S. Attorney General and former mayor Homer Stille Cummings, Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Andrew J. McDonald, and Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court Richard A. Robinson.

Senator who was Al Gore's vice-presidential nominee in the 2000 presidential election; William F. Buckley, Jr., conservative commentator; and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau.

Stamford has consistently received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for LGBT-friendly policies since 2016.

Per the American Community Survey from 2017 to 2021, 89.1% of adults aged 25 and older graduated from high school, and 52.3% have a Bachelor's degree or higher.

Sacred Heart University also hosts a physician assistant studies program located on the Stamford Hospital campus.

[97][98][99] Stamford is on the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad, the commuter rail system for northern metropolitan New York City.

Stamford is the second-busiest station on the Metro-North system, after Grand Central Terminal, and serves as a major transfer point for local trains.

Commuter trains come into Stamford from all points between New London to the east and New York (Grand Central Terminal) to the south.

The Acela, a high speed train service between Boston and Washington D.C., makes several daily stops in Stamford.

Bus service runs along major arterial roads through the towns of Darien, Norwalk, Greenwich and Port Chester, New York.

Additional connections can be made in Port Chester and White Plains to all points covered by the Bee-Line bus system in Westchester County.

Greyhound used to provide inter-city bus service from the lower level of the Stamford train station.

Any congestion on the Merritt Parkway is mostly likely to occur on the southbound lane in the morning and the northbound in the evening (route to and from New York).