Like all states, Vermont has certain places that are going on hard times. These Vermont places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Vermont.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 12 cities in Vermont with more than 2,000 people.
$56,086 median income · 25.1% poverty · #2 lowest income in Vermont
Bellows Falls, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Vermont thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 2,891 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Vermont and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$54,646 median income · 23.0% poverty · #1 lowest income in Vermont
The second poorest city in Vermont is Newport.
The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 2nd highest in the Green Mountain State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,980 median income · 19.5% poverty · #4 lowest income in Vermont
Located in
Franklin County, Vermont
Placing as the third poorest city, St. Albans’s median income ranks as the 4th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 19.5% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Green Mountain State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$66,607 median income · 20.1% poverty · #6 lowest income in Vermont
Swanton ranks as the fourth poorest place in Vermont.
The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 4th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,675 median income · 15.3% poverty · #3 lowest income in Vermont
Located in
Rutland County, Vermont
The fifth poorest city in Vermont is Rutland.
The city ranks as having the 3rd lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 8th highest in Vermont.
Still not the best news for Rutland.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$71,109 median income · 20.5% poverty · #8 lowest income in Vermont
Located in
Chittenden County, Vermont
Burlington ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Green Mountain State.
It ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty and the 5th highest unemployment rate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$65,625 median income · 17.3% poverty · #5 lowest income in Vermont
Located in
Washington County, Vermont
Barre places as the seventh poorest city in Vermont.
The city of over 8,412 ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$68,240 median income · 17.8% poverty · #7 lowest income in Vermont
Morrisville ranks as the eighth poorest city in Vermont.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$76,587 median income · 11.6% poverty · #9 lowest income in Vermont
Vergennes couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Vermont; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 9th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Vergennes ranks as having the 10th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Vermont.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$79,522 median income · 13.8% poverty · #10 lowest income in Vermont
Located in
Chittenden County, Vermont
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Vermont is Winooski.
The city of 8,293 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Green Mountain State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Vermont’s statewide median.
Vermont statewide median: $81,203
Vermont statewide median: 10.1%
Vermont statewide median: 3.6%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in Vermont
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in Vermont for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 12 places with more than 2,000 people in Vermont, we ranked each place from 1 to 12 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Bellows Falls, crowned the “Poorest Place In Vermont For 2026”. The median Vermont home is 49 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in Vermont
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellows Falls | 1.50 | 2,891 | $56,086 | 25.1% | 11.7% |
| 2 | Newport | 1.50 | 4,394 | $54,646 | 23.0% | 9.1% |
| 3 | St. Albans | 4.50 | 6,954 | $57,980 | 19.5% | 1.8% |
| 4 | Swanton | 5.00 | 2,670 | $66,607 | 20.1% | 3.0% |
| 5 | Rutland | 5.50 | 15,712 | $57,675 | 15.3% | 4.4% |
| 6 | Burlington | 5.50 | 44,675 | $71,109 | 20.5% | 4.3% |
| 7 | Barre | 6.00 | 8,412 | $65,625 | 17.3% | 4.5% |
| 8 | Morrisville | 6.50 | 2,664 | $68,240 | 17.8% | 2.8% |
| 9 | Vergennes | 9.50 | 2,565 | $76,587 | 11.6% | 1.6% |
| 10 | Winooski | 9.50 | 8,293 | $79,522 | 13.8% | 1.2% |
| 11 | South Burlington | 11.50 | 20,756 | $106,667 | 7.2% | 3.9% |
| 12 | Montpelier | 11.50 | 8,014 | $81,030 | 6.5% | 2.4% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 12 cities with more than 2,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in Vermont for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Vermont, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Vermont.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there. Not sold on Vermont? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
