Best PlacesVermont, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vermont, 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.
Vermont ranks 17,079th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Vermont
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.
Vermont's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vermont ranks high
- Short commute19.0 minutes each way, better than 91% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 80% of towns
Where Vermont ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 17% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vermont
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vermont home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,064, 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 Vermont's effective rate of 0.57%, 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 Vermont
Vermont 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 Vermont.
Who works in Vermont, and how
Work in Vermont centers on manufacturing and other services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Vermont
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vermont.
What the weather is like in Vermont, month by month
Vermont sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Vermont
Indianapolis International sits about 55 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 5.2 million passengers in 2025, with 92 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Vermont
Schools across Vermont average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Eastern Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Howard Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Taylor Elementary SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwestern Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Eastern Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Taylor Middle SchoolD− · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwestern Senior High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Eastern High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Taylor High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vermont school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vermont 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 Vermont against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vermont
Is Vermont a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vermont ranks 17,079th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, cheap car insurance, and cell coverage, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vermont expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $203,088. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $77,064 median income, cost of living beats 79% of towns.
Is Vermont safe?
Yes, Vermont is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $287 per resident a year.
Compare Vermont with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vermont. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vermont 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.
Vermont detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vermont: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vermont: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vermont: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vermont: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vermont 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.