The 10 Best Small Towns In Vermont For 2024


The best small towns in Vermont are Woodstock and Jericho for 2024 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: January 12, 2024

You’ve seen these lists before. Best places to live in Vermont. Best sururbs in Vermont. Best counties in Vermont.

Etc., etc., etc.

But they all focus on major cities and towns in the Green Mountain State, and no one pays attention to the little guy.

Well, that’s all about to change as we put together a list of the superb small towns in Vermont based on numbers–not opinions or hearsay.

We’ll dive right into our methodology in the next section, but first, we thought you might want to know which places in Vermont ranked the best based on Saturday Night Science.

Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table

The 15 Best Small Towns To Live In Vermont For 2024

  1. Woodstock
  2. Jericho
  3. South Barre
  4. Wilder
  5. Chester
  6. Williamstown
  7. Vergennes
  8. Poultney
  9. Arlington
  10. White River Junction
  11. Brandon
  12. Milton
  13. Morrisville
  14. Bradford
  15. Manchester Center

Best Small Towns To Live In Vermont Map

What’s the best small town in Vermont? Woodstock is the best small town in Vermont based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Woodstock, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.

But for the rest of you–keep reading, and we’ll get to just why these small towns made our list.

For more reading on the Green Mountain State check out:

The 15 Best Small Towns In Vermont For 2024

1. Woodstock

Woodstock, VT

Source: Wikipedia User AlexiusHoratius | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,033
Median Income: $85,536 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $711,711 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

2. Jericho

Jericho, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,166
Median Income: $97,174 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $519,340 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

3. South Barre

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,362
Median Income: $75,042 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $325,628 (14th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

4. Wilder

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,634
Median Income: $70,758 (11th Best)
Median Home Value: $333,949 (10th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8%

5. Chester

Chester, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Sfoskett | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,097
Median Income: $63,919 (16th Best)
Median Home Value: $341,039 (9th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.2%

6. Williamstown

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,508
Median Income: $90,156 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $310,828 (16th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%

7. Vergennes

Vergennes, VT

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,561
Median Income: $72,171 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $342,717 (8th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.0%

8. Poultney

Poultney, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Jared and Corin | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,250
Median Income: $67,868 (12th Best)
Median Home Value: $262,485 (21st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.5%

9. Arlington

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,781
Median Income: $70,938 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $357,569 (7th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 5.8%

10. White River Junction

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,766
Median Income: $66,979 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $360,462 (6th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%

11. Brandon

Brandon, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Brandonvermont | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,858
Median Income: $54,700 (21st Best)
Median Home Value: $285,876 (19th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.3%

12. Milton

Milton, VT

Source: Flickr User formulanone | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 3,712
Median Income: $81,526 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $427,339 (4th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 16.0%

13. Morrisville

Morrisville, VT

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 2,576
Median Income: $63,339 (17th Best)
Median Home Value: $332,070 (11th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.4%

14. Bradford

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,272
Median Income: $95,199 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $287,966 (18th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%

15. Manchester Center

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,835
Median Income: $73,333 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $441,693 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%

Best States In America

Methodology: How We Determined The Coolest Towns In Vermont

We threw a lot of criteria at this report to get the best, most complete results of the best small towns in Vermont possible.

Using the most recent data from the Census’s 2018-2022 American Community Survey, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Saturday Night Science, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (Higher is better)
  • Lowest Unemployment Rates
  • Housing costs (Higher is better. More demand.)
  • Adjusted Median Income (Higher is better)
  • Highly Educated Adults (Higher is better)
  • Insurance Rates (Higher is better)
  • Commute Times (Lower is better)

We looked at places with populations lower than 5,000 people and greater than 1,000, of which there were many – 31 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 31, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in Vermont. Top of that list — Woodstock.

This is our tenth time ranking the best small places to live in Vermont.

Summary: Science Can Tackle Any Issue, Even Small Ones

We said it once, and we’ll say it again — this list: it’s just science. We did the research, crunched the numbers, and it turns out these 15 small towns in Vermont are the best in which to live.

And who can argue with that?

The best small towns in Vermont are Woodstock, Jericho, South Barre, Wilder, Chester, Williamstown, Vergennes, Poultney, Arlington, and White River Junction.

If you’re curious, here are the worst small towns in Vermont:

  1. Enosburg Falls
  2. Richford
  3. Fair Haven

For more Vermont reading, check out:

Best Small Towns In Vermont

Rank City Population Median Income Median Home Value Unemployment Rate
1 Woodstock, VT 1,033 $85,536 0.0%
2 Jericho, VT 1,166 $97,174 0.0%
3 South Barre, VT 1,362 $75,042 0.0%
4 Wilder, VT 3,634 $70,758 5.8%
5 Chester, VT 1,097 $63,919 2.2%
6 Williamstown, VT 1,508 $90,156 1.2%
7 Vergennes, VT 2,561 $72,171 2.0%
8 Poultney, VT 1,250 $67,868 5.5%
9 Arlington, VT 1,781 $70,938 5.8%
10 White River Junction, VT 2,766 $66,979 4.6%
11 Brandon, VT 1,858 $54,700 1.3%
12 Milton, VT 3,712 $81,526 16.0%
13 Morrisville, VT 2,576 $63,339 6.4%
14 Bradford, VT 1,272 $95,199 4.2%
15 Manchester Center, VT 1,835 $73,333 3.4%
16 North Bennington, VT 1,420 $62,125 6.0%
17 Swanton, VT 2,428 $73,365 8.2%
18 Randolph, VT 2,010 $58,333 7.7%
19 Bellows Falls, VT 2,824 $52,813 3.0%
20 Windsor, VT 2,138 $47,545 3.8%
21 West Rutland, VT 2,222 $47,381 1.5%
22 Johnson, VT 1,347 $49,016 10.1%
23 Bristol, VT 1,956 $65,536 8.0%
24 Lyndonville, VT 1,143 $54,688 2.8%
25 Newport, VT 4,431 $53,026 9.6%
26 Hardwick, VT 1,247 $57,798 1.6%
27 West Brattleboro, VT 2,817 $40,446 4.9%
28 Springfield, VT 3,946 $48,476 4.2%
29 Fair Haven, VT 2,422 $67,300 3.5%
30 Richford, VT 1,636 $52,679 8.0%
31 Enosburg Falls, VT 1,554 $46,250 7.1%
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

 Best Small Towns