Best Places05656, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05656, 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.
05656 ranks 18,919th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 05656
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.
05656's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05656 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 05656 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,446 a month, better than only 8% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05656
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05656 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,629, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 05656's effective rate of 1.69%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 05656
05656 runs younger 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 05656.
Who works in 05656, and how
Work in 05656 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in 05656
05656 has more parkland per resident than 96% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 05656 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 05656, month by month
05656 sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 20° | 10° |
| April | 56° | 42° | 30° |
| July | 83° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 62° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 05656
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 178 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05656
Schools across 05656 average an A−, better than 91% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cumberland Head Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Monroe Consolidated SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Johnson Elementary SchoolC− · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stafford Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Plattsburgh Senior High SchoolA+ · 98% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05656 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05656 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 05656 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05656
Is 05656 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05656 ranks 18,919th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, good schools, and quiet, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05656 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $177,549. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $55,629 median income, cost of living beats 12% of zip codes.
Is 05656 safe?
05656 is safer than 52% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $330 per resident a year.
Compare 05656 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05656. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05656 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.
05656 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05656: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05656: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05656: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05656: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05656 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.