Best Places05602, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05602, 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.
05602 ranks 8,158th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05602
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.
05602's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05602 ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 05602 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,417 a month, better than only 9% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 24% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05602
A household needs to earn about $111,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05602 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,195, 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 05602's effective rate of 1.81%, 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 05602
05602 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 05602.
Who works in 05602, and how
Work in 05602 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 05602
05602 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 75% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 05602 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 05602, month by month
05602 sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 12° |
| April | 55° | 42° | 31° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 61° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 05602
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 154 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05602
Schools across 05602 average a C+, better than 45% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Union Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Rumney Memorial SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Berlin Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Main Street Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Montpelier High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Woodsville High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05602 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05602 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 05602 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05602
Is 05602 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05602 ranks 8,158th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on an educated workforce, population health, and cheap car insurance, 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 05602 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $374,027. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $87,195 median income, cost of living beats 52% of zip codes.
Is 05602 safe?
Yes, 05602 is safer than 82% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $226 per resident a year.
Compare 05602 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05602. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05602 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.
05602 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05602: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05602: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05602: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05602: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05602 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.