Best PlacesBennington County, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bennington County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bennington County ranks 346th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Bennington County
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.
The best areas in Bennington County
The parts of Bennington County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Manchester Center
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Arlington
Tree cover is thicker, though more homes sit empty.
Pownal
Prices have run up less, though fewer households have young kids.
North Bennington
Schools score higher, though it is noisier.
Bennington
Streets are more walkable and biking is better.
Scores across Bennington County run from about the 21st to the 95th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Bennington County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bennington County ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 95% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 90% of counties
Where Bennington County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,384 a month, better than only 4% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bennington County
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bennington County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $81,250; 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 Bennington County's effective rate of 1.65%, 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 Bennington County
Bennington County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bennington County.
Who works in Bennington County, and how
Work in Bennington County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Bennington County
Bennington County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of counties and more parkland per resident than 82% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Bennington County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bennington County growing, and who is moving in?
Bennington County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Rutland County, VT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bennington County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bennington County, month by month
Bennington County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 16° |
| April | 60° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 84° | 71° | 58° |
| October | 65° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Bennington County
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bennington County
Schools across Bennington County average an A, better than 98% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Floyd Harwood Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Williamstown ElementaryA · 66% proficient
- Hoosick Falls Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Shore Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Walpole Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Mt. Anthony Union Middle SchoolD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Hoosick Falls High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Cambridge Junior-senior High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Salem High SchoolA · 68% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bennington County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bennington County 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 Bennington County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bennington County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bennington County
Is Bennington County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bennington County ranks 346th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, tree cover, 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 Bennington County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $307,143. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $81,250 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Bennington County safe?
Yes, Bennington County is safer than 85% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $265 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bennington County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 16. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Bennington County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Manchester Center, Arlington, and Pownal. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Bennington County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bennington County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bennington County 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.
Bennington County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bennington County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bennington County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bennington County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bennington County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bennington County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.