Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Grand Isle’s best subject grades are an A for health and an A− for history; its weakest is a D for walkability. Only 9 of Vermont’s 172 towns score lower on walkability. Grand Isle has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Hyde Log Cabin and Gordon-Center House. Grand Isle has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Grand Isle beats most towns.
Census counts: 678 in 1800, 2,086 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1842 and 6 maps from 1894 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Vermont), ordered by how far Grand Isle is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Grand Isle, 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 Grand Isle.
Grand Isle beats the Vermont average on 5 of 31 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 28% of Grand Isle adults sleep under 7 hours, below both Vermont’s towns (30%) and U.S. towns (36%). 16% of adults get no exercise outside work in Grand Isle.
| Grand Isle | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 30% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 19% | 25% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 19% |
| What stands out | Grand Isle | VT |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.3% | 9.2% |
| Fewer adults without reliable transportation | 5.3% | 6.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Champlain Islands Unified Union School District #66. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Isle SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 151 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VT on state tests
Most working residents leave Grand Isle for work: only 6% work in town. At 32 minutes, Grand Isle’s average trip to work is above both the Vermont town median (23 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). The median household income in Grand Isle is $101,000.
| Grand Isle | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 32 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 18% | 15% | 11% |
| Median household income | $101,000 | $80,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.2% | 16% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Grand Isle home is worth about $505,000, up 3.9% in a year, 29% above the Vermont typical home. 86% of Grand Isle households own their home.
| Grand Isle | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 86% | 75% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,363 a month | $1,135 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Grand Isle has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Grand Isle’s July high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (39% statewide); people 65 and older are 16% of residents (22% statewide). Grand Isle has grown 4.2% since 2020, to 2,172 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 46% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 44% across Vermont.
| Grand Isle | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 40% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 22% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 19% | 22% |
| Median age | 43.3 years | 43.7 years | 40.5 years |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.5 points. Across Vermont, 50.4% of residents are women.
| Grand Isle | VT | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 9.1% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.3% | 8.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.3% | 10% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.2% | 11.9% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.6% | 12.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.7% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.9% | 14.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.4% | 13% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.2% | 8.5% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.9% | 5.1% | 10.4% |
| High school | 25.1% | 26.8% | 26% |
| Some college | 15.4% | 15.8% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.7% | 8.6% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 30.7% | 25.2% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15.3% | 18.6% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,200, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1986, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Grand Isle.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Among 72 Vermont towns, just 1 have a lower trail density than Grand Isle. The biggest park or preserve is Grand Isle State Park, at 225 acres.
| Grand Isle | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 14% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Grand Isle State Park | 0.8 mi | 225 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Grand Isle. Close and well known come first.
Big draw13 mi LakeLake Champlain
27 mi MountainMount Mansfield
38 mi MountainWhiteface Mountain
15 mi Canyon & gorgeAusable Chasm
28 mi Ski areaStowe Mountain Resort144 runs · 2,390 ft vertical
20 mi LandmarkFort MontgomeryLake Champlain: Copernicus Sentinel-2, ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 igo · Mount Mansfield: Original uploader was Calzarette (Joe Calzarette) at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Whiteface Mountain: Mwanner, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ausable Chasm: Alan Prusila / Alanp35 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Stowe Mountain Resort: Stevage, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Montgomery: Mfwills, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Grand Isle
About 2 of every 100 Grand Isle residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Vermont.
Where Grand Isle’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Grand Isle on the National Register of Historic Places.
Town in Vermont, United States
Grand Isle is a town on Grand Isle in Grand Isle County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,086 at the 2020 census. A landing for the Lake Champlain Transportation Company's ferry to Plattsburgh, New York, at Cumberland Head is located on the western shore of Grand Isle at Gordon's Landing.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Grand Isle.
| Town | VT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Isle | — | — | C− | — | C | A |
| North Hero | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Milton | #32 | B | C | B | B− | A |
| St. Albans | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Hero | — | — | C− | — | C | A |
| Georgia | #31 | B | C | — | B− | A− |
Grand Isle and South Hero have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Grand Isle, South Hero and Georgia report no FBI crime data of their own. North Hero and St. Albans aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Grand Isle with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes. That is 5.4 years of the area's median household income ($93,043 across the Burlington-South Burlington, VT metro 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−.
