Best Places05651, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05651, 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.
05651 ranks 7,091st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 05651
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.
05651's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05651 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 05651 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,417 a month, better than only 9% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05651
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05651 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $91,892; 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 05651's effective rate of 1.59%, 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 05651
05651 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 05651.
Who works in 05651, and how
Work in 05651 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 05651
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 05651.
What the weather is like in 05651, month by month
05651 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 05651
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 152 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05651
Schools across 05651 average a C+, better than 45% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- East Montpelier Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Monroe Consolidated SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- U-32 Middle & High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05651 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05651 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 05651 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05651
Is 05651 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05651 ranks 7,091st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and an educated workforce, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05651 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $353,766. The overall cost of living runs about 12% above the national average. Set against a $91,892 median income, cost of living beats 50% of zip codes.
Is 05651 safe?
Yes, 05651 is safer than 95% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $162 per resident a year.
Compare 05651 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05651. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05651 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.
05651 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05651: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05651: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05651: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05651: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05651 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.