9 Best Places To Call Home In Vermont In 2025
For many, Vermont is the definition of New England life: mountains and lakes, colorful autumn leaves, and cold-weather sports and fun. The state is one of America's oldest: it was number 14, just after the Thirteen Original Colonies that first declared independence from Great Britain.
Vermont seems to have only improved since then. South of Canada and bordering three other New England states, this place, whose motto is "Vermont, Naturally," offers outdoor grandeur that some never want to leave. To make a home in Vermont, towns like the ones below offer affordable, attractive options that remain in financial reach for most homebuyers. See what makes Vermont a great relocation destination.
Bennington
In southern Vermont, Bennington has attracted adventurers and intellectuals since its establishment in 1749. Its median home price is just $252,000, well below Vermont's state median of $403,000, according to the real estate website Zillow.com. This is the home of Bennington College, making Bennington a university town.
Visitors and new arrivals can soak up local history at the Park-McCullough Historic Governor's Mansion, a 35-room Victorian manor home finished in 1865. Also nearby is the Bennington Battle Monument, an obelisk honoring the conflict that took place here in 1777, during the US Revolutionary War. The monument reaches 306 feet, making it the state's largest building.
Brattleboro
In south-central Vermont, along the Connecticut River, modest Brattleboro is a place of culture. The Brattleboro Museum and the Estey Organ Museum, which honors the town's onetime role in musical instrument manufacturing, welcome visitors who appreciate cultural and industrial history. Modern music fans turn out for the Vermont Jazz Center, which takes place here in town. The town's median home price comes in at $330,000, again well under the state median.
Fans of the outdoors love Brattleboro's Fort Dummer State Park, which allows for hiking, biking, camping, and more. The town, standing along the state line with New Hampshire, and also being near Massachusetts, makes this town a great base for exploring the broader, central New England region after moving to town.
Chester
In southeast Vermont, Chester sits along the bucolic Williams River, which flows into the Connecticut River, meaning the town is endowed with abundant riverside beauty. Homes here have a median value of $364,000, per Zillow. Nature fans will find their place here, especially in Chester Town Forest, which has zones north and south of town.
Chester's attractions include man-made points of interest, too. The historic Stone Village preserves housesmade of local granite from centuries past. Chester Village displays homes and buildings from once-popular building styles, like Colonial Revival, Federal, and Victorian. Chester likewise has a pair of historic districts, each of them with a slot on the National Register of Historic Places.
Granville
In north-central Vermont, the rural town of Granville offers bargains for homebuyers, since the median home price here is an affordable $280,000. This town is the place to be if one seeks peace, quiet, and the beauty of the New England outdoors. The Granville Gulf Reservation State Forest protects local plants and animals, and will celebrate a century of preserving Vermont's natural wonders in 2028. Moss Glen Falls are a popular draw within the forest, whose 80 feet of descent are sure to impress visitors and those new to the area. Also near town, the Clark Brook Trailhead draws hikers at all times of year. Granville sits along Route 100, a popular scenic drive, ensuring that friends and family will be happy to make time for a visit.
Newport
In far northeastern Vermont, the town of Newport is a classic northeast lake town, with a rich economic and cultural history. First established in 1793, Newport sits at the southern edge of Lake Memphremagog, which forms a section of the US-Canada border. Its natural attractions and international flavor put the median home price here at $259,000. Newport once served as a center of lumber production, among other industries. The town's International Club was previously the area's go-to venue for a night out. Its dancefloor was once the largest in the region. Musical performers like Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong all graced its stage.
These days, Newport celebrates its local culture in its own way. The town has put on an ice fishing competition for two decades, drawing crowds of people from all over. The town also organizes a soap box derby, or motorless car race, each year.
Northfield
North-central Northfield provides another option for a small-town, rural ambiance. Its home prices have a median price of $319,000. As a college town and the home of Norwich University, Northfield has a bit of everything. Norwich blends tradition and forward thinking: it claims to be the birthplace of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, or ROTC, a feeder system for aspiring US military officers that is now common nationwide. The school likewise says it was among the first military colleges to accept women students. These and other legacies live at the Sullivan Museum and History Center, as well as on the Norwich campus.
Fresh-air seekers will find their bliss in the evocatively named Frosted Golds, a forest west of town. And for a real sense of New England charm, newcomers can follow the Dog River north through town, where structures like the Slaughterhouse Covered Bridge look quaint enough for a photo or two. The Upper Cox Brook Covered Bridge also stands nearby, spanning the watercourse of the same name since 1872.
Roxbury
In central Vermont, the town of Roxbury has a median home price of $343,000. The town is a nature-lover's paradise, with Roxbury State Forest, just west of town, inviting exploration. Children or grandchildren visiting may enjoy the Figure 8 Riding facility in town, which teaches horseback skills to all skill levels. In winter, inhabitants of Roxbury can head a short drive west to the nearby Sugarbush Resort, a popular ski area. Though it is a small town, Roxbury is not without diversity: its Trijang Buddhist Institute is a center of Tibetan Buddhism, welcoming all interested persons to visit and explore their belief system further. Being south of Montpelier, Vermont's petite state capital, Roxbury offers proximity to the offerings of a larger town, too.
Rutland
In central Vermont, Rutland is a somewhat larger town that brings together culture and a sense of history. The Rutland Historical Society maintains a small local museum that features aspects of the region's past industries and people. Many visitors seek out the Rutland County Museum, which illuminates similar themes. For those traveling or relocating here with children, Rutland's Wonderfeet Kids' Museum is a big draw, as it seeks to enliven young imaginations using the "power of play," its website says. Rutland's median home price is $278,000, according to Zillow.
Outdoor fans make frequent use of Pine Hill Park, with its green woods and bike trails. Come winter, skiing or snowboarding at nearby Killington Resort is a must, for boardsport athletes of all ages. Rutland hosts the Vermont State Fair each summer.
Williamstown
Just east of Roxbury, Williamstown makes for an attractive, rural alternative. Its home prices have a median of $314,000. Interstate 89 runs through the western edge of town, making it convenient as a place to get to and from, or by which to welcome guests to one's new home. Kids in town, whether new or just visiting, will enjoy LegenDairy Maple & Ice Cream, a creamery serving ice cream of all kinds.
Outdoors, Williamstown offers classic New England recreation, including cabins and camping at the Limehurst Lake Campground, just south of downtown. Ainsworth State Park, also south of town, promises a moment of peace surrounded by green Vermont forest. The Boonie Club, a shooting range, provides a safe place to hone one's marksmanship skills.
Vermont's Small Towns Offer Great New Home Options
As these towns suggest, the choices for a move to Vermont run long. The state's median home price might be $403,000, but many attractive and affordable alternatives come in well under that figure. Bennington and Brattleboro offer the chance to learn Vermont's revolutionary and cultural histories where they took shape. Granville and Northfield deliver a rural feeling that lets a new arrival connect with nature as never before. Newport sheds light on north-country culture and the connections between Canada and the United States. With so many points of interest to choose from, newcomers to Vermont's green mountains and forests may wonder why they waited so long to make their move.
