Montpelier, the state capital · Photo: Farragutful · CC BY-SA 4.0How Vermont stacks up
Only one state has fewer adults in fair or poor health: in Vermont, 15% of adults say their health is fair or poor. All told, Vermont grades C, 36th of 51 with a score of 30. It offers low natural-hazard risk and easy commutes, but at the cost of $5,039 property-tax bills (62% above the national figure) and slow growth.
Each subject puts the official state figure beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
26th of 51B−50/100 Low crime statewide, less so in its towns. Even its best town, Milton, ranks #1,058 of 3,410 nationally. Vermont reports 220 violent crimes per 100,000 people, against 329 nationally. Its larger towns trail the statewide figure, which also counts rural areas.
Add property crime, weighted as our town grades weigh it, and it ranks 19th lowest.
Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, state estimate 2025.
Measure: reported crime per resident over the engine’s three crime years (property + 4 × violent), as in our Safety grades. 9 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 3,410 nationally. Covers 94% of residents of Vermont’s 10,000+ towns.
Where most people live, crime runs higher
At the safe end sit Essex (#1,540), Hartford (#1,737) and Colchester (#1,863) in the national ranking of towns of 10,000+. The quarter reporting the most crime per resident takes in Burlington, South Burlington and Rutland. Its towns tell a different story from the state total: 40th of 48 town by town, 10th lowest statewide.
| State | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Hampshire | 42% | 0% | |
| Rhode Island | 37% | 0% | |
| New Jersey | 35% | 20% | |
| Pennsylvania | 29% | 37% | |
| Maine | 29% | 15% | |
| Vermont | 0% | 68% |
A few towns sit out
Town figures come from each police department’s own reports to the FBI, and a town needs enough of the last three years reported to count. That covers 94% of the people in Vermont’s towns of 10,000+. Essex Junction reports no crime of its own, usually a sign that county or state police patrol it. Among its neighbors, Massachusetts counts the most (96%) and New York the least (73%).
Schools
45th of 51D12/100 Schools trail most states. 31% of students test Proficient on the Nation’s Report Card (22nd lowest) and 82% graduate on time (11th lowest). The money outruns the results: 6th in spending, 30th on the test. Even its best town, Colchester, ranks #1,491 of 5,230 nationally.
Graduation: 82.0% finish high school on time (class of 2023), 11th lowest. The grade weighs test results and graduation equally.
Per-pupil spending, $25,064 (6th highest), is shown for context and not graded.
Source: NCES, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2024, public schools; EDFacts graduation rates; Census school finance.
Measure: graduation rate and test results, averaged; each district’s state-test proficiency is put on the NAEP yardstick (its result ÷ the state average × the state’s NAEP proficiency) so districts compare across states. 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,230 nationally.
Cost of living
51st of 51D−0/100 Cost is the price of living here. Even its best town, Rutland, ranks #2,437 of 5,235 nationally. The typical homeowner pays $5,039 a year in property tax, 62% above the national figure. New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts all do better on affordability.
A typical home costs 3.9 years of median household income, 26th lowest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: our cost-of-living score: home value, rent and tax bill against area income, plus the share paying 30%+ for housing. 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Health
2nd of 51A+98/100 Healthy, town after town. Vermont ranks 2nd lowest for adults in fair or poor health, at 15%. No state puts more of its people in the nation’s healthiest quarter of towns (69%). No neighbor beats it on health; New Hampshire comes closest.
Source: CDC PLACES 2025 release (BRFSS model estimates).
Measure: our health score: seven CDC PLACES measures (general, physical and mental health, obesity, diabetes, smoking, inactivity). 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,218 nationally.
Housing
19th of 51B64/100 High ownership outside its larger towns. Vermont ranks 3rd highest for home ownership, at 73% of homes. The statewide figure flatters its larger towns; smaller places and the countryside lift it. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Milton its best at #540 of 5,235.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: share of occupied homes that are owner-occupied. 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Natural hazards
11th of 51A−80/100 Low risk nearly everywhere. Vermont ranks 12th lowest for expected hazard damage: $103 a year per $100,000 of buildings. Town after town lands in the national top quarter: 45% of residents live in one. Inland flooding leads the list (89%), then hurricanes (4%).
The federal government declared 15 major disasters here between 2015 and 2025 (17th most).
What drives it: inland flooding 89%, hurricane 4%, earthquake 3% of expected building damage.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index v1.20 (Dec. 2025): expected annual building loss over building value, all census tracts; FEMA disaster declarations.
Measure: FEMA National Risk Index: expected yearly building loss from 18 natural hazards, as a share of building value. 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,239 nationally.
Commute
12th of 51A−78/100 Short commutes, town after town. The average trip to work takes 23.5 minutes, 3 minutes shorter than the national average. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Rutland and Bennington are typical. No neighbor beats it on commute times; New Hampshire comes closest.
Source: Census ACS 2020–24 5-year.
Measure: average one-way commute of the town’s workers. 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,235 nationally.
Growth
46th of 51D10/100 Growing slower than most states. New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts all do better on growth. Vermont grew 2.8% between 2010 and 2020, against 7.4% for the country. 6% of residents live in a top-quarter town, 25% in a bottom-quarter one; Essex Junction ranks highest.
New homes permitted in 2025: 4.0 per 1,000 residents (25th fewest).
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 and 2020 decennial counts; Census building permits.
Measure: population change between the 2010 and 2020 censuses. 10 Vermont towns of 10,000+ against 5,079 nationally.
How Vermont compares to its neighbors
Vermont beats every neighbor on health and the commute; on schools, cost of living and growth, every neighbor beats it.
| Vermont | New York | New Hampshire | Massachusetts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | C 3036th of 51 | C 3235th of 51 | A− 849th of 51 | B+ 7016th of 51 |
| Safety | B− 5010th official · 0% in top towns | B− 4635th official · 9% in top towns | A+ 1003rd official · 42% in top towns | B+ 7426th official · 29% in top towns |
| Schools | D 1230th official · 0% in top towns | B+ 7427th official · 20% in top towns | A 906th official · 31% in top towns | A+ 981st official · 39% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D− 044th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1648th official · 5% in top towns | C− 1850th official · 8% in top towns | D 647th official · 1% in top towns |
| Health | A+ 982nd official · 69% in top towns | B+ 6620th official · 22% in top towns | A 902nd official · 40% in top towns | A 8610th official · 41% in top towns |
| Housing | B 643rd official · 6% in top towns | C+ 3650th official · 21% in top towns | A+ 986th official · 25% in top towns | B− 5047th official · 23% in top towns |
| Natural hazards | A− 8012th official · 45% in top towns | A+ 964th official · 74% in top towns | C 3225th official · 0% in top towns | A 869th official · 53% in top towns |
| Commute | A− 7817th official · 87% in top towns | D 1251st official · 17% in top towns | C− 1640th official · 12% in top towns | D 847th official · 7% in top towns |
| Growth | D 1041st official · 6% in top towns | C− 2233rd official · 2% in top towns | C− 1631st official · 2% in top towns | C+ 4022nd official · 9% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the state’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of residents of 10,000+ towns living in a nationally top-quarter town. Neighbor names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is the figure a state agency or federal survey publishes for the whole state, ranked against the other 49 states and D.C. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the state’s towns and cities of 10,000+, the share whose town falls in the national top quarter of 10,000+ towns. A state can do well on one and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the state’s standing among the 50 states and D.C.: the two measures’ percentiles averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. 100 is the best state, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, commute 10, housing 8, natural hazards 8, growth 8 (out of 100). D.C., a single city, is left out of the town measure and graded on official figures alone.
What it is not. A state figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a state is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out towns under 10,000 and towns missing data. Neither says anything about any one neighborhood.
Schools use the Nation’s Report Card because each state’s own tests are set to different bars. Hazards use FEMA’s expected building damage, the same loss rate behind our town hazard grades. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work