Best Places05494, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05494, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
05494 ranks 2,401st 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 05494
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.
05494's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05494 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of zip codes
Where 05494 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,718 a month, better than only 2% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05494
A household needs to earn about $121,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05494 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $114,439; 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 05494's effective rate of 1.49%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 05494
05494 runs older than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 05494.
Who works in 05494, and how
Work in 05494 centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 05494
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 05494.
What the weather is like in 05494, month by month
05494 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 05494
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 185 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05494
Schools across 05494 average a B+, better than 88% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cumberland Head Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Westford Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Milton Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stafford Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Milton Middle SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Plattsburgh Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
- Milton Senior High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05494 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05494 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 05494 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05494
Is 05494 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05494 ranks 2,401st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, low disaster risk, and heat safety, and lowest on childcare costs and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05494 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $421,692. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $114,439 median income, cost of living beats 84% of zip codes.
Is 05494 safe?
Yes, 05494 is safer than 96% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $161 per resident a year.
Compare 05494 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05494. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05494 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.
05494 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05494: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05494: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05494: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05494: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05494 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.