Best PlacesRutland County, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Rutland County, 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.
Rutland County ranks 744th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rutland 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 Rutland County
The parts of Rutland 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.
Brandon, Proctor & Pittsford
Fewer homes sit empty, schools score higher, and tree cover is thicker.
Poultney
It is quieter, though commutes are longer.
Rutland
Streets are more walkable, though crime runs higher.
West Rutland
Biking is better, though fewer households have young kids.
Fair Haven & Castleton
Fewer adults hold degrees and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Rutland County run from about the 20th to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Rutland County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rutland County ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 92% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 92% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 91% of counties
- TransitBetter than 91% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 89% of counties
Where Rutland County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,493 a month, better than only 3% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Rutland County
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rutland County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,744, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
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 Rutland County's effective rate of 1.71%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rutland County
Rutland County runs older than the country, 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 Rutland County.
Who works in Rutland County, and how
Work in Rutland 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 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Rutland County
Rutland County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 77% of counties and more parkland per resident than 90% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Rutland County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Rutland County growing, and who is moving in?
Rutland County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Burlington, VT.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Rutland County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Rutland County, month by month
Rutland County sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 14. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 14° |
| April | 57° | 44° | 33° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Rutland County
The nearest airport, Rutland/Southern Vermont Regional, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bradley International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rutland County
Schools across Rutland County average a B, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Putnam Central SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Killington Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Whitehall Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frances C. Richmond SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Charlestown Middle SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Rutland Middle SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Hanover High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Granville Junior-senior High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Whitehall Junior-senior High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rutland County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rutland 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 Rutland County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Rutland County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 58% of counties, health care access beats 74%, and it is quieter than 67%.
Common questions about living in Rutland County
Is Rutland County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rutland County ranks 744th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on clean air, tree cover, and cheap car insurance, 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 Rutland County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,517. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $72,744 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Rutland County safe?
Yes, Rutland County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Rutland County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 14. That works out to about 96 pleasant days a year, more than 58% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Rutland County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Brandon, Proctor & Pittsford, Poultney, and Rutland. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Rutland County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rutland County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rutland 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.
Rutland County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rutland County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rutland County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rutland County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rutland County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rutland 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.