Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
27% more nonprofits per person than the typical Vermont town.
Bethel’s best subject grades are an A for health and an A+ for civic life and history; its weakest is a C for cost of living. Among 72 Vermont towns, just 1 have a lower share of children under 18 than Bethel. On civic life, just 7 of Vermont’s 165 towns do better. Bethel has 8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them McKenstry Manor and Locust Creek House Complex. Bethel has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Bethel beats most towns.
Census counts: 473 in 1790, 1,942 in 2020. The archive holds 20 old photos and papers going back to 1886 and 4 maps from 1919 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Vermont), ordered by how far Bethel is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bethel, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Bethel.
Bethel beats the Vermont average on 1 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 75% of Bethel adults had a checkup this year, against 76% in Vermont’s towns and 79% across U.S. towns. 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Bethel.
| Bethel | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 76% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 30% | 36% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Bethel | VT |
|---|---|---|
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 87.9% | 85.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the White River Unified School District #79. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| White River Valley Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 133 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VT on state tests and graduation
Bethel has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. At 79°F, Bethel’s July high is close to Vermont’s towns (80°F) and below U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Bethel for work: only 14% work in town. Since 2013, Bethel has added 293 jobs, to 994 in 2023. Bethel’s average trip to work is 28 minutes.
| Bethel | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 7.1% | 15% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 16% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.2% | 9.5% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Children under 18 are 12% of residents (18% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (39% statewide). The median age in Bethel is 50.7 years. Bethel has lost 2.8% of its people since 2020, down to 1,887 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Bethel | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 50.7 years | 43.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 22% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 36% | 40% | 29% |
46% women, 54% men
About 117 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±3.5 points). Across Vermont, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Bethel | VT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 5% | 9.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.5% | 8.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 2.7% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.7% | 11.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9% | 12.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 18.8% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.8% | 14.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.5% | 13% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11% | 8.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.9% | 5.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.6% | 15.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 15.8% | 8.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.8% | 25.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10% | 18.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,900, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 2007, 16 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bethel.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Bethel home is worth about $340,000, up 7.4% in a year, 13% below the Vermont typical home. 84% of Bethel households own their home.
| Bethel | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,335 a month | $1,135 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4.0 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Among 72 Vermont towns, just 1 have a lower trail density than Bethel.
| Bethel | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 6.4% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Peavine Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
| 2. River Street Access | — | 2 |
| 3. Bethel Bandshell & Common | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bethel. Close and well known come first.
Big draw35 mi LandmarkFort Ticonderoga
18 mi Ski areaKillington Resort184 runs · 3,031 ft vertical
23 mi Ski areaSugarbush Resort142 runs · 2,569 ft vertical
20 mi National forestGreen Mountain National Forest
31 mi Ski areaOkemo Mountain119 runs · 2,165 ft vertical
26 mi Ski areaMad River Glen77 runs · 1,998 ft verticalFort Ticonderoga: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Killington Resort: NHRHS2010, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sugarbush Resort: Mrtrek1701 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Green Mountain National Forest: Brian W. Schaller, FAL · Okemo Mountain: Jrclark (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mad River Glen: Jrclark (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bethel
About 1 of every 100 Bethel residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Vermont.
8 places in Bethel on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Bethel.
Town in Vermont, United States
Bethel is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,942 at the 2020 census. The town includes the locations of Bethel village, Bethel-Gilead, East Bethel, Lilliesville, Lympus (formerly Olympus), and West Bethel. Bethel is best known for being the source of Bethel White granite which was used to build Washington Union Station and the National Museum of Natural History. Bethel was the first town created by the independent Republic of Vermont in 1779 and was named after the Biblical village of Bethel.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Bethel.
| Town | VT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel | — | — | C | — | C+ | A |
| Royalton | #20 | B+ | C+ | B+ | C+ | A− |
| Rochester | — | — | B | — | C+ | A |
| Randolph | #14 | A− | C | — | B+ | A− |
| Tunbridge | — | — | C− | — | C+ | B+ |
| Braintree | — | — | B | — | B+ | B+ |
Bethel, Rochester, Tunbridge and Braintree have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bethel, Rochester, Randolph, Tunbridge and Braintree report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Bethel with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
27% more nonprofits per person than the typical Vermont town.
That is 4.1 years of the area's median household income ($83,269 across the Lebanon-Claremont, NH-VT area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
5 notable people were born here, including Stephen Thomas and Harry Burrell.
