Best Places05346, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05346, 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.
05346 ranks 11,777th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05346
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.
05346's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05346 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 85% of zip codes
Where 05346 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,392 a month, better than only 10% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05346
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05346 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $78,434; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 05346's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 05346
05346 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 05346.
Who works in 05346, and how
Work in 05346 centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 67%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in 05346
05346 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 05346 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 05346, month by month
05346 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 05346
The nearest airport, Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 75 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05346
Schools across 05346 average a B, better than 64% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- North Walpole SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Westmoreland SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Chesterfield Central SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Walpole Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Fall Mountain Regional High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Keene High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Hinsdale High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05346 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05346 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 05346 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05346
Is 05346 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05346 ranks 11,777th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, clean air, and an educated workforce, and lowest on childcare costs and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05346 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $301,542. The overall cost of living runs about 6% above the national average. Set against a $78,434 median income, cost of living beats 36% of zip codes.
Is 05346 safe?
Yes, 05346 is safer than 82% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
Compare 05346 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05346. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05346 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.
05346 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05346: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05346: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05346: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05346: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05346 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.