Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Highgate gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $342K, 3.7 years of the Burlington metro’s $93K median household income. It grades B− overall, 35th of 71 graded towns in Vermont. 23% of the land in Highgate is conserved, against 14% in Vermont’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. Only 4 of Vermont’s 172 towns score lower on walkability. Its National Register listings include Swanton Covered Railroad Bridge and St. John's Episcopal Churdh.
Where Highgate beats most towns.
Census counts: 103 in 1790, a low of 103 in 1790, 3,472 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1836 and 5 maps from 1914 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 Highgate is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Highgate, 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 Highgate.
Highgate gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthy by national standards but behind most towns in Vermont; it also has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
Jobs based here fell from 813 in 2013 to 507. The average commute for its 1,532 working residents takes 31 minutes, against 23.5 across Vermont.
Just 6% of Highgate’s working residents have a job in town. This Vermont town had 507 jobs in 2023, down 306 from 2013. The mean commuting time for Highgate comes to 31 minutes, where Vermont’s towns sit at 22 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The top destinations are Swanton (15%), St. Albans (13%) and St. Albans (12%).
| Highgate | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 22 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 6.4% | 16% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.1% | 9.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Public schools: the Missisquoi Valley School District #89. The largest public high school is Missisquoi Valley Union High School, with 759 students. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highgate Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 282 | A− |
| Missisquoi Valley Union High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 759 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VT on state tests and graduation
12 miles of trail. Among 71 Vermont towns, just 5 have a lower trail density than Highgate.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The national flood insurance program has paid 3 claims in Highgate since 1996. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 72% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Highgate break down as 67% from inland flooding and 9% from earthquakes.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The St Albans Radio weather station, 7 miles away, records that 80 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 95% of U.S. towns. The St Albans Radio weather station, 7 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 161 days: shorter than most of the country, but longer than 92% of Vermont places with climate records.
The typical July afternoon high for Highgate comes to 80°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Zillow values the typical Highgate home at about $342,000, up 1.8% in a year, 13% below the Vermont typical home. Among households here, 81% live in a home they own.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Within Vermont it is less healthy than 91% of the 71 graded towns: Vermont sets a high bar.
Only 4 of the 71 Vermont towns we compare have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Highgate. The share of adults in Highgate who report frequent physical distress: 15%.
| Highgate | Vermont towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 30% | 35% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 30% | 36% |
| What stands out | Highgate | VT |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 14.6% | 10.1% |
| More smokers | 15% | 11.2% |
| More adults with obesity | 38.3% | 28.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
None within 15 miles of Highgate; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Highgate residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Vermont.
Where Highgate’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Highgate on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Highgate.
Town in Vermont, United States
Highgate is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,472 at the 2020 census. The town is on the Canada–US border and is a border town with Philipsburg, Quebec.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Highgate.
| Town | VT rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highgate | #35 | B− | B | — | B+ | B− |
| Swanton | #37 | B− | C+ | — | B+ | B |
| Franklin | — | — | A− | — | B+ | B |
| Sheldon | — | — | B | — | C+ | B |
Franklin and Sheldon have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Highgate, Swanton, Franklin and Sheldon report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Highgate with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Highgate grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #35 of 71 in Vermont. It grades B− for health and B+ for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
5 notable people were born here, including Warren Austin and John Godfrey Saxe.
