The 10 Best Small Towns In Vermont For 2025


The best small towns in Vermont are Norwich and Jericho for 2025 based on Saturday Night Science.

By: Chris Kolmar | About HomeSnacks
Last Updated: October 1, 2025

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 2025

  1. Norwich
  2. Jericho
  3. South Barre
  4. Vergennes
  5. Wilder
  6. Chester
  7. White River Junction
  8. North Bennington
  9. Windsor
  10. Bradford
  11. Bristol
  12. Arlington
  13. Bellows Falls
  14. Manchester Center
  15. Williamstown

Best Small Towns To Live In Vermont Map

What’s the best small town in Vermont? Norwich is the best small town in Vermont based on the most recent Census data. If you live in one of these small towns like Norwich, 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 2025

1. Norwich

Norwich, VT

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

/10

Population: 1,081
Median Income: $167,625 (1st Best)
Median Home Value: $642,200 (1st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.5%

2. Jericho

Jericho, VT

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

4
/10

Population: 1,230
Median Income: $94,063 (3rd Best)
Median Home Value: $397,800 (2nd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

3. South Barre

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 1,259
Median Income: $78,162 (8th Best)
Median Home Value: $246,900 (12th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 0.0%

4. Vergennes

Vergennes, VT

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 2,571
Median Income: $85,417 (6th Best)
Median Home Value: $263,500 (8th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%

5. Wilder

Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 3,394
Median Income: $69,063 (13th Best)
Median Home Value: $241,000 (15th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.1%

6. Chester

Chester, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Sfoskett | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,356
Median Income: $67,782 (14th Best)
Median Home Value: $245,300 (14th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.2%

7. White River Junction

Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 2,878
Median Income: $73,546 (9th Best)
Median Home Value: $250,700 (10th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%

8. North Bennington

North Bennington, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Mark Barry from Md, Vt, Ny. | CC BY 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 1,342
Median Income: $67,500 (15th Best)
Median Home Value: $275,000 (7th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 6.3%

9. Windsor

Windsor, VT

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

5
/10

Population: 1,961
Median Income: $48,371 (25th Best)
Median Home Value: $158,800 (28th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.9%

10. Bradford

Overall SnackAbility

/10

Population: 1,326
Median Income: $96,213 (2nd Best)
Median Home Value: $246,400 (13th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%

11. Bristol

Bristol, VT

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

5
/10

Population: 2,005
Median Income: $71,372 (11th Best)
Median Home Value: $298,200 (5th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.5%

12. Arlington

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,871
Median Income: $73,164 (10th Best)
Median Home Value: $231,800 (16th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 8.2%

13. Bellows Falls

Bellows Falls, VT

Source: Wikipedia User Wayne Blanchard (VtWayne at en.wikipedia) | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 2,851
Median Income: $54,836 (20th Best)
Median Home Value: $176,000 (24th Best)
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%

14. Manchester Center

Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 1,935
Median Income: $88,786 (5th Best)
Median Home Value: $330,300 (3rd Best)
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%

15. Williamstown

Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 1,622
Median Income: $90,938 (4th Best)
Median Home Value: $182,200 (21st Best)
Unemployment Rate: 1.0%

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 2019-2023 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 – 30 to be exact.

We then ranked each place in each category with scores from 1 to 30, averaged them out, and the lowest scores went to our Best Small Towns in Vermont. Top of that list — Norwich.

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 Norwich, Jericho, South Barre, Vergennes, Wilder, Chester, White River Junction, North Bennington, Windsor, and Bradford.

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 Norwich, VT 1,081 $167,625 2.5%
2 Jericho, VT 1,230 $94,063 0.0%
3 South Barre, VT 1,259 $78,162 0.0%
4 Vergennes, VT 2,571 $85,417 2.7%
5 Wilder, VT 3,394 $69,063 6.1%
6 Chester, VT 1,356 $67,782 1.2%
7 White River Junction, VT 2,878 $73,546 2.9%
8 North Bennington, VT 1,342 $67,500 6.3%
9 Windsor, VT 1,961 $48,371 1.9%
10 Bradford, VT 1,326 $96,213 4.0%
11 Bristol, VT 2,005 $71,372 3.5%
12 Arlington, VT 1,871 $73,164 8.2%
13 Bellows Falls, VT 2,851 $54,836 2.9%
14 Manchester Center, VT 1,935 $88,786 3.2%
15 Williamstown, VT 1,622 $90,938 1.0%
16 West Rutland, VT 2,144 $53,373 2.9%
17 Brandon, VT 1,892 $54,138 0.0%
18 Milton, VT 3,510 $82,750 16.0%
19 Swanton, VT 2,732 $71,307 6.0%
20 Lyndonville, VT 1,229 $43,693 2.9%
21 Morrisville, VT 2,527 $66,792 4.6%
22 Randolph, VT 1,946 $59,203 4.6%
23 Poultney, VT 1,105 $61,597 8.9%
24 Springfield, VT 3,882 $44,375 3.6%
25 Newport, VT 4,413 $48,194 10.1%
26 West Brattleboro, VT 2,614 $39,555 5.7%
27 Hardwick, VT 1,047 $41,667 4.4%
28 Fair Haven, VT 2,435 $65,898 4.4%
29 Richford, VT 1,600 $49,954 5.7%
30 Enosburg Falls, VT 1,595 $54,583 6.0%
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