Best PlacesMiddlesex, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Middlesex, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Middlesex ranks 13,525th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Middlesex
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.
Middlesex's strengths and weaknesses
Where Middlesex ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
Where Middlesex ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,417 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Middlesex
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Middlesex home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $107,577; 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 Middlesex's effective rate of 1.64%, 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 Middlesex
Middlesex runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Middlesex.
Who works in Middlesex, and how
Work in Middlesex centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Middlesex
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Middlesex.
What the weather is like in Middlesex, month by month
Middlesex sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 30, with lows near 12. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 30° | 21° | 12° |
| April | 55° | 42° | 31° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 57° |
| October | 61° | 49° | 38° |
Flying in and out of Middlesex
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 158 miles away.
The best schools in and around Middlesex
Schools across Middlesex average a C+, better than 52% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Monroe Consolidated SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodsville High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Middlesex school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Middlesex 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 Middlesex against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Middlesex
Is Middlesex a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Middlesex ranks 13,525th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on an educated workforce, heat safety, and population health, 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 Middlesex expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $377,625. The overall cost of living runs about 11% above the national average. Set against a $107,577 median income, cost of living beats 75% of towns.
Is Middlesex safe?
Yes, Middlesex is safer than 67% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
Compare Middlesex with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Middlesex. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Middlesex 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.
Middlesex detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Middlesex: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Middlesex: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Middlesex: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Middlesex: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Middlesex 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.