Like all states, Vermont has certain places that are going on hard times. These Vermont places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Vermont.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 13 cities in Vermont with more than 2,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Places In Vermont For 2024:
What’s the poorest city in Vermont? According to the facts, Bellows Falls is the poorest place in Vermont for 2024.
This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.
For more Vermont reading, check out:
- Best Places To Live In Vermont
- Cheapest Places To Live In Vermont
- Most Dangerous Cities In Vermont
- The poorest states in the US
- The poorest cities in the US
The 10 Poorest Cities In Vermont For 2024
1. Bellows Falls
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Bellows Falls, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Vermont thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 2,824 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Vermont and the 3rd highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
2. St. Albans
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Population: 6,891
Rank Last Year: 4 (Up 2)
Median Income: $49,736 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.7% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,356
More on St. Albans: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The second poorest city in Vermont is St. Albans.
The city ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 11th highest in the Green Mountain State.
3. Barre
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Population: 8,488
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 2)
Median Income: $53,798 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 24.1% (highest)
People In Poverty: 2,047
More on Barre: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Placing as the third poorest city, Barre’s median income ranks as the 5th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 24.12% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Green Mountain State.
4. Newport
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Newport ranks as the fourth poorest place in Vermont.
The town ranks as having the 3rd lowest median household income and the 6th highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
5. Burlington
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Population: 44,646
Rank Last Year: 3 (Down 2)
Median Income: $64,931 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 23.6% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 10,558
More on Burlington: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
The fifth poorest city in Vermont is Burlington.
The city ranks as having the 7th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 2nd highest in Vermont.
Still not the best news for Burlington.
6. Rutland
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Population: 15,819
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 1)
Median Income: $53,304 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.0% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,376
More on Rutland: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Rutland ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Green Mountain State.
It ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty and the 5th highest unemployment rate.
7. Winooski
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Population: 8,122
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $69,783 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.1% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,548
More on Winooski: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living
Winooski places as the seventh poorest city in Vermont.
The city of over 8,122 ranks as having the 5th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
8. Morrisville
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Population: 2,576
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 1)
Median Income: $63,339 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.6% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 374
More on Morrisville: Data
Morrisville ranks as the eighth poorest city in Vermont.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
9. Swanton
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Swanton couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Vermont; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 10th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Swanton ranks as having the 9th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Vermont.
10. Vergennes
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And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Vermont is Vergennes.
The city of 2,561 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Green Mountain State.
Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Vermont for 2024
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2018-2022 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
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 poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Bellows Falls, crowned the “Poorest Place In Vermont For 2024”.
This report has been updated for 2024, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Vermont.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Vermont For 2024
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest 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 bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Vermont, according to data:
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Richest: South Burlington
2nd Richest: Montpelier
3rd Richest: Essex Junction
For more Vermont reading, check out:
- Richest Cities In Vermont
- Safest Places In Vermont
- Worst Places To Live In Vermont
- Most Expensive Places To Live In Vermont
Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Vermont
| Rank | City | Population | Poverty Rate | Median Income | People In Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bellows Falls | 2,824 | 19.7% | $52,813 | 557 |
| 2 | St. Albans | 6,891 | 19.7% | $49,736 | 1,356 |
| 3 | Barre | 8,488 | 24.1% | $53,798 | 2,047 |
| 4 | Newport | 4,431 | 15.1% | $53,026 | 669 |
| 5 | Burlington | 44,646 | 23.6% | $64,931 | 10,558 |
| 6 | Rutland | 15,819 | 15.0% | $53,304 | 2,376 |
| 7 | Winooski | 8,122 | 19.1% | $69,783 | 1,548 |
| 8 | Morrisville | 2,576 | 14.6% | $63,339 | 374 |
| 9 | Swanton | 2,428 | 11.4% | $73,365 | 277 |
| 10 | Vergennes | 2,561 | 10.9% | $72,171 | 278 |
| 11 | Essex Junction | 10,646 | 10.3% | $92,589 | 1,095 |
| 12 | Montpelier | 8,030 | 6.4% | $76,143 | 515 |
| 13 | South Burlington | 20,241 | 8.0% | $90,410 | 1,623 |