Best Places05301, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05301, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
05301 ranks 17,085th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05301
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.
05301's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05301 ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 84% of zip codes
Where 05301 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,392 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05301
A household needs to earn about $85,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05301 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,269, 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 05301's effective rate of 1.83%, 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 05301
05301 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 05301.
Who works in 05301, and how
Work in 05301 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 05301
05301 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 05301 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 05301, month by month
05301 sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 25° | 15° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 85° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 51° | 39° |
Flying in and out of 05301
The nearest airport, Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional, is about 50 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05301
Schools across 05301 average a C, better than 35% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Marlboro Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Colrain CentralB · 48% proficient
- Westmoreland SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brattleboro Area Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Hinsdale Middle High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Keene High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Brattleboro Union High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Hinsdale High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05301 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05301 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 05301 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05301
Is 05301 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05301 ranks 17,085th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on clean air, cheap car insurance, and an educated workforce, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05301 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,225. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $69,269 median income, cost of living beats 28% of zip codes.
Is 05301 safe?
05301 is safer than 44% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $362 per resident a year.
Compare 05301 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05301. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05301 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.
05301 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05301: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05301: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05301: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05301: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05301 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.