Best PlacesSheffield, VT Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Sheffield, 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.
Sheffield ranks 32,537th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Sheffield
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.
Sheffield's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sheffield ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 87% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of towns
Where Sheffield ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,213 a month, better than only 13% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Sheffield
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sheffield home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $64,524, 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 Sheffield's effective rate of 1.48%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Sheffield
Sheffield 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 Sheffield.
Who works in Sheffield, and how
Work in Sheffield centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Sheffield
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Sheffield.
What the weather is like in Sheffield, month by month
Sheffield sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 80 degrees. January highs sit near 28, with lows near 10. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 28° | 19° | 10° |
| April | 54° | 41° | 30° |
| July | 80° | 68° | 56° |
| October | 60° | 48° | 37° |
Flying in and out of Sheffield
The nearest airport, Patrick Leahy Burlington International, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is General Edward Lawrence Logan International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sheffield
Schools across Sheffield average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lancaster Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
- Stratford Public SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- White Mountains Regional High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Groveton High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sheffield school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sheffield 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 Sheffield against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Sheffield
Is Sheffield a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sheffield ranks 32,537th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and clean air, and lowest on empty homes and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sheffield expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,941. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $64,524 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Sheffield safe?
Yes, Sheffield is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $176 per resident a year.
Compare Sheffield with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sheffield. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sheffield 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.
Sheffield detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sheffield: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sheffield: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sheffield: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sheffield: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sheffield 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.