Best Places05868, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05868, 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.
05868 ranks 10,288th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 05868
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.
05868's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05868 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 05868 ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,312 a month, better than only 14% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05868
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05868 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,349, 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 05868's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 05868
05868 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 05868.
Who works in 05868, and how
Work in 05868 centers on health care & social and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 05868
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 05868.
What the weather is like in 05868, month by month
05868 sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 9. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 9° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 57° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 38° |
Flying in and out of 05868
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05868
Schools across 05868 average a D, better than 9% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Stratford Public SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Colebrook Academy And Elementary School (h)C · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05868 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05868 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 05868 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05868
Is 05868 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05868 ranks 10,288th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and quiet, and lowest on cell coverage and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05868 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,998. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $93,349 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 05868 safe?
Yes, 05868 is safer than 98% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $148 per resident a year.
Compare 05868 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05868. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05868 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.
05868 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05868: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05868: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05868: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05868: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05868 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.