State relocation profile · Federal data
Vermont
Cost of living, fair-market rent, wages, safety, schools and childcare for Vermont - every figure straight from federal data.
- 98.0
- Cost index (US=100)
- $1,487
- 2BR rent / mo
- $74,077
- Median salary
- 52.7
- Life Score
The verdict
As of June 2026, Vermont scores 52.7/100 (D) on the composite Life Score, with its strongest marks in environment and safety.
- 52.7
- Life Score · D
- 98.0
- Cost of living (US=100)
- $74,077
- Median annual salary (BLS)
- $1,487
- 2BR fair-market rent / mo (HUD)
Weakest dimension: schools (22/100). State-level figures are a benchmark, individual metros can diverge sharply, so weigh each dimension against your own priorities.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and five other federal agencies, Vermont has a cost-of-living index of 98.0 (100 = national average), a median 2-bedroom rent of $1,487/mo, and a median salary of $74,077. Its composite Life Score is 52.7/100 (D), with its strongest marks in environment and safety.
How Vermont ranks nationally
Where Vermont's composite Life Score falls among all 51 US states scored.
Vermont has life score of 52.7. Distribution: 0 US states at 0-10; 0 US states at 10-20; 0 US states at 20-30; 5 US states at 30-40; 16 US states at 40-50; 24 US states at 50-60; 6 US states at 60-70; 0 US states at 70-80; 0 US states at 80-90; 0 US states at 90-100.
Evaluating Vermont as a relocation target starts with the statewide BEA Regional Price Parity of 98.0 - where 100 is the national average, so every point above or below translates to percent-level cost of living difference. Housing costs in Vermont index at 86.5, goods at 97.3, and services at 125.8. HUD Fair Market Rents averaged across Vermont counties put a 2-bedroom at $1,487/month, the figure HUD uses to cap Section 8 voucher payments, so it reflects real submarket rents rather than listings bias.
On the income side, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics report a statewide median salary of $74,077 with a mean of $77,166 across 288,770 tracked jobs. For safety context, FBI UCR data shows a violent crime rate of 225 per 100,000 residents and a property crime rate of 1665 per 100K. These state-level reads let you benchmark Vermont against both your origin state and national medians before zooming into specific metros.
Family and education costs often decide a move. Department of Labor data for Vermont shows center-based infant care running N/A/year. Vermont contains 1 metropolitan statistical area in our dataset - Burlington-South Burlington - each with its own rent, wage and crime profile that can diverge sharply from the statewide average. The composite Life Score of 52.7/100 (D) folds all seven federal sources into one number for quick comparison.
Key Metrics
Life Score Breakdown
Vermont's composite Life Score is 52.7/100 (D), computed across 7 dimensions.
Vermont - Life Score dimensions
Percentile vs all US states (100 = best in the nation for that dimension)
- Environment
Environment
92 /100
- Safety
Safety
72 /100
- Wages
Wages
64 /100
- Cost of living
Cost of living
44 /100
- Rent 24
Rent
24 /100
- Schools 22
Schools
22 /100
What this shows Vermont's strongest dimensions are environment and safety; its weakest is schools at 22/100. Each dimension is a federal-data percentile; the composite folds all seven into one comparable figure.
Metros in Vermont
Explore detailed relocation data for 1 metropolitan area in Vermont.
Relocation Guides
In-depth guides to help with your relocation research.
Relocating within or to Vermont?
State figures are the benchmark, drill into a metro before you commit.
- Vermont has 1 metro area with rent, wage and crime profiles that diverge from the statewide average, start with Burlington-South Burlington. View Burlington-South Burlington
- Put two places on the same scorecard across cost, rent, wages, safety and schools before you decide. Compare metros
- See how every US metro ranks on the composite LiveAbility Score, then re-weight it to your priorities. Rankings
Cost, rent and wages are state-level reads; safety, schools and childcare use state data where metro-level isn't published. Always verify the latest figures at the official source before you move.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cost of living in Vermont?
What is the median salary in Vermont?
How safe is Vermont?
How much does childcare cost in Vermont?
How many metro areas are in Vermont?
Is Vermont a good state to relocate to?
Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS OES, FBI UCR, NCES, DOL, EPA June 2026
Data Sources
- Cost of Living: Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Regional Price Parities
- Rent: HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR)
- Wages: Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES)
- Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)
- Schools: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
- Childcare: Department of Labor (DOL)
- Environment: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
This information is for research purposes only.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
Verify with U.S. Census Bureau →
Every figure on PlainRelocate is rendered directly from federal source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.