Article Table Of Contents
Essex Junction, Montpelier, South Burlington: These cities aren't just some of the best places to live in Vermont. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Green Mountain State.
Essex Junction in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $80,019 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 7.131372363567578%.
If you're thinking of moving to one of these towns, you'll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Vermont share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2015-2019 American Community Survey for the 13 places in Vermont with more than 2,000 people.
Here are the 10 richest places in Vermont for 2021:
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Vermont.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out some more reading about Vermont:
The 10 Richest Cities In Vermont For 2021
1. Essex Junction
/10
Population: 10,603
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $80,019
Unemployment Rate: 2.9%
Poverty Rate: 7.1%
More on Essex Junction: Real Estate | Photos
2. Montpelier
/10
Population: 7,477
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $65,078
Unemployment Rate: 2.7%
Poverty Rate: 7.5%
More on Montpelier: Real Estate | Photos
3. South Burlington
/10
Population: 19,162
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $73,065
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 6.6%
More on South Burlington: Real Estate | Photos
4. Vergennes
/10
Population: 2,596
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $63,920
Unemployment Rate: 2.6%
Poverty Rate: 11.0%
More on Vergennes: Real Estate | Photos
5. St. Albans
/10
Population: 6,804
Rank Last Year: 5 (No Change)
Median Income: $53,647
Unemployment Rate: 4.2%
Poverty Rate: 10.7%
More on St. Albans: Real Estate | Photos
6. Rutland
/10
Population: 15,398
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $48,212
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 12.6%
More on Rutland: Real Estate | Photos
7. Swanton
/10
Population: 2,450
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 3)
Median Income: $55,868
Unemployment Rate: 7.6%
Poverty Rate: 10.3%
More on Swanton: Real Estate | Photos
8. Morrisville
/10
Population: 2,216
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $52,500
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%
Poverty Rate: 13.7%
More on Morrisville: Real Estate | Photos
9. Winooski
/10
Population: 7,242
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 4)
Median Income: $51,728
Unemployment Rate: 3.7%
Poverty Rate: 29.5%
More on Winooski: Real Estate | Photos
10. Bellows Falls
/10
Population: 3,007
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 3)
Median Income: $33,286
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 23.1%
More on Bellows Falls: Real Estate | Photos
How We Determined The Richest Places In Vermont For 2021
The first thing that comes to most people's minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don't believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the "richest places". So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2015-2019 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 13 places with more than 2,000 people in Vermont, we ranked each place from 1 to 13 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a "Rich Score" with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Essex Junction, crowned the "Richest City In Vermont For 2021". You can download the data here.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 13 places.
There You Have It - The Wealthiest Places In Vermont For 2021
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest 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 top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you're curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Vermont, according to data:
Poorest: Barre
2nd Poorest: Newport
3rd Poorest: Burlington
For more Vermont reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Vermont
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Essex Junction | 2.0 |
| 2 | Montpelier | 2.67 |
| 3 | South Burlington | 3.33 |
| 4 | Vergennes | 3.67 |
| 5 | St. Albans | 6.33 |
| 6 | Rutland | 7.33 |
| 7 | Swanton | 7.33 |
| 8 | Morrisville | 8.67 |
| 9 | Winooski | 9.0 |
| 10 | Bellows Falls | 9.33 |
| 11 | Burlington | 10.0 |
| 12 | Newport | 10.33 |
| 13 | Barre | 11.0 |
I’m not sure if you noticed, but you have my home town, Bellows Falls, on both the “richest” and “poorest” list in Vermont, at the same time. Perhaps something fishy with your methodology?
I suspect Norwich is the wealthiest city in Vermont. They have absolutely no affordable housing and like it that way.