Best PlacesEast Thetford, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Thetford, 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.
East Thetford ranks 5,133rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Thetford
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.
East Thetford's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Thetford ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 94% of towns
Where East Thetford ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,513 a month, better than only 3% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 7% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Thetford
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Thetford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,090, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 East Thetford's effective rate of 1.70%, 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 East Thetford
East Thetford'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 East Thetford.
Who works in East Thetford, and how
Work in East Thetford centers on retail trade and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in East Thetford
East Thetford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of East Thetford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in East Thetford, month by month
East Thetford sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 24° | 14° |
| April | 60° | 45° | 33° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 59° |
| October | 65° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of East Thetford
The nearest airport, Lebanon Municipal, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Thetford
Schools across East Thetford average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lyme Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frances C. Richmond SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Hanover High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Thetford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Thetford 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 East Thetford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Thetford
Is East Thetford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Thetford ranks 5,133rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, an educated workforce, and civic engagement, 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 East Thetford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $434,024. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $82,090 median income, cost of living beats 61% of towns.
Is East Thetford safe?
Yes, East Thetford is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $122 per resident a year.
Compare East Thetford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Thetford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Thetford 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.
East Thetford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Thetford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Thetford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Thetford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Thetford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Thetford 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.