Best Places05871, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05871, 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.
05871 ranks 25,306th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 05871
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.
05871's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05871 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 05871 ranks low
- School gradeD−, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 14% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05871
A household needs to earn about $83,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05871 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $80,366; 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 05871's effective rate of 1.50%, 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 05871
05871's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 05871.
Who works in 05871, and how
Work in 05871 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 05871
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 05871.
What the weather is like in 05871, month by month
05871 sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 10° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 37° |
Flying in and out of 05871
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 60 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05871
Schools across 05871 average a D−, better than 5% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Newark SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Burke Town SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Lancaster Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Colebrook Academy And Elementary School (h)C · 34% proficient
- White Mountains Regional High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Groveton High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05871 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05871 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 05871 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05871
Is 05871 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05871 ranks 25,306th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on the schools and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05871 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $291,571. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $80,366 median income, cost of living beats 57% of zip codes.
Is 05871 safe?
05871 is safer than 46% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $344 per resident a year.
Compare 05871 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05871. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05871 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.
05871 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05871: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05871: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05871: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05871: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05871 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.