Best Places05142, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05142, 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.
05142 ranks 10,286th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05142
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.
05142's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05142 ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 05142 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,505 a month, better than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05142
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05142 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,951, 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 05142's effective rate of 1.55%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 05142
05142 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 05142.
Who works in 05142, and how
Work in 05142 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 05142
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 05142.
What the weather is like in 05142, month by month
05142 sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 64° | 50° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 05142
The nearest airport, Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 101 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05142
Schools across 05142 average a C, better than 28% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cornish Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Maple Avenue SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- N. Charlestown Community SchoolD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Claremont Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
- Charlestown Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Stevens High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05142 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05142 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 05142 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05142
Is 05142 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05142 ranks 10,286th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on a strong job market, fast internet, and tree cover, and lowest on childcare costs and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05142 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $281,782. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $90,951 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 05142 safe?
Yes, 05142 is safer than 78% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $230 per resident a year.
Compare 05142 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05142. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05142 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.
05142 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05142: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05142: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05142: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05142: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05142 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.