Best Places05042, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05042, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
05042 ranks 22,404th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05042
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
05042's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05042 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 05042 ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- School gradeD+, better than only 11% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05042
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05042 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,695, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 05042's effective rate of 1.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 05042
05042's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 05042.
Who works in 05042, and how
Work in 05042 centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 05042
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 05042.
What the weather is like in 05042, month by month
05042 sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 29, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 29° | 21° | 14° |
| April | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 61° |
| October | 59° | 49° | 42° |
Flying in and out of 05042
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05042
Schools across 05042 average a D+, better than 11% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Monroe Consolidated SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05042 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05042 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 05042 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05042
Is 05042 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05042 ranks 22,404th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, clean air, and tree cover, and lowest on empty homes and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05042 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $221,039. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $66,695 median income, cost of living beats 26% of zip codes.
Is 05042 safe?
Yes, 05042 is safer than 94% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $168 per resident a year.
Compare 05042 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05042. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05042 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
05042 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05042: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05042: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05042: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05042: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05042 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.