Best Places05904, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 05904, 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.
05904 ranks 30,237th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 05904
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.
05904's strengths and weaknesses
Where 05904 ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 76% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 75% of zip codes
Where 05904 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Household income$43,250 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 05904
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 05904 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $43,250, 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 05904's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 05904
05904 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 05904.
Who works in 05904, and how
Work in 05904 centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 05904
05904 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 05904 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 05904, month by month
05904 sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 8. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 19° | 8° |
| April | 56° | 41° | 28° |
| July | 82° | 68° | 53° |
| October | 62° | 47° | 35° |
Flying in and out of 05904
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 62 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around 05904
Schools across 05904 average a C−, better than 22% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Whitefield Elementary SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Lunenburg & Gilman SchoolsD · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- White Mountains Regional High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 05904 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
05904 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 05904 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 05904
Is 05904 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 05904 ranks 30,237th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on quiet, cheap car insurance, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 05904 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,100. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $43,250 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 05904 safe?
Yes, 05904 is safer than 61% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $284 per resident a year.
Compare 05904 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 05904. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 05904 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.
05904 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 05904: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 05904: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 05904: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 05904: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
05904 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.