Best PlacesNorth Bennington, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around North Bennington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
North Bennington ranks 8,434th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in North Bennington
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.
North Bennington's strengths and weaknesses
Where North Bennington ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of towns
- TransitBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 92% of towns
Where North Bennington ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,384 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in North Bennington
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median North Bennington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,989, 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 North Bennington's effective rate of 1.77%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in North Bennington
North Bennington runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for North Bennington.
Who works in North Bennington, and how
Work in North Bennington centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in North Bennington
North Bennington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 92% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of North Bennington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in North Bennington, month by month
North Bennington 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 North Bennington
The nearest airport, Albany International, is about 31 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 74 miles away.
The best schools in and around North Bennington
Schools across North Bennington average an A, better than 98% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hoosick Falls Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Cambridge Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Hoosick Falls High SchoolA+ · 91% proficient
- Cambridge Junior-senior High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every North Bennington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
North Bennington 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 North Bennington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in North Bennington
Is North Bennington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, North Bennington ranks 8,434th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, an educated workforce, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is North Bennington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $305,160. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $72,989 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is North Bennington safe?
North Bennington is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare North Bennington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to North Bennington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in North Bennington 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.
North Bennington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for North Bennington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in North Bennington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of North Bennington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in North Bennington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
North Bennington 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.