Best Places05255, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05255, 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.
05255 ranks 4,423rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05255
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.
05255's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05255 ranks high
- Short commute14.5 minutes each way, better than 97% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 89% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
Where 05255 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,384 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05255
A household needs to earn about $128,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05255 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $93,876, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 05255's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 05255
05255 runs older than the country, 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 05255.
Who works in 05255, and how
Work in 05255 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 05255
05255 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 05255 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 05255, month by month
05255 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of 05255
The nearest airport, Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 88 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05255
Schools across 05255 average an A, better than 89% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Salem Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Manchester Elementary/middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Salem High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05255 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05255 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 05255 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05255
Is 05255 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05255 ranks 4,423rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on short commutes, clean air, and an educated workforce, and lowest on an overheated housing market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05255 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $465,994. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $93,876 median income, cost of living beats 60% of zip codes.
Is 05255 safe?
Yes, 05255 is safer than 68% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $292 per resident a year.
Compare 05255 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05255. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05255 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.
05255 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05255: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05255: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05255: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05255: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05255 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.