Best PlacesRichmond, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Richmond, 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.
Richmond ranks 3,179th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Richmond
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.
Richmond's strengths and weaknesses
Where Richmond ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of towns
Where Richmond ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,718 a month, better than only 1% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Richmond
A household needs to earn about $119,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Richmond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $110,784; 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 Richmond's effective rate of 1.59%, 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 Richmond
Richmond'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 Richmond.
Who works in Richmond, and how
Work in Richmond centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Richmond
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Richmond.
What the weather is like in Richmond, month by month
Richmond sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 24° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 35° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Richmond
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 171 miles away.
The best schools in and around Richmond
Schools across Richmond average an A−, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lake View CampusA− · 60% proficient
- Richmond Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Keeseville Primary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Camels Hump Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Peru High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Ausable Valley High SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Richmond school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Richmond 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 Richmond against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Richmond
Is Richmond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Richmond ranks 3,179th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, 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 Richmond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $411,213. The overall cost of living runs about 8% above the national average. Set against a $110,784 median income, cost of living beats 81% of towns.
Is Richmond safe?
Yes, Richmond is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $206 per resident a year.
Compare Richmond with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Richmond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Richmond 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.
Richmond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Richmond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Richmond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Richmond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Richmond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Richmond 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.