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 12 cities in Vermont with more than 2,000 people.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Poorest Places In Vermont For 2025:
What’s the poorest city in Vermont? According to the facts, Newport is the poorest place in Vermont for 2025.
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 2025
1. Newport
/10
Population: 4,413
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 4)
Median Income: $48,194 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 21.6% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 954
More on Newport: Data
Newport, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Vermont thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 4,413 people averages the lowest median household income in Vermont and the 2nd 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. Barre
/10
Population: 8,461
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $53,288 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.3% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,629
More on Barre: Data
The second poorest city in Vermont is Barre.
The city ranks as having the 4th highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 3rd highest in the Green Mountain State.
3. St. Albans
/10
Population: 6,910
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 1)
Median Income: $53,370 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 20.7% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,432
More on St. Albans: Data
Placing as the third poorest city, St. Albans’s median income ranks as the 3rd 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 20.73% 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. Burlington
/10
Population: 44,649
Rank Last Year: 4 (No Change)
Median Income: $68,854 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 23.0% (highest)
People In Poverty: 10,264
More on Burlington: Data
Burlington ranks as the fourth poorest place in Vermont.
The town ranks as having the 7th lowest median household income and the 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. Bellows Falls
/10
Population: 2,851
Rank Last Year: 1 (Down 4)
Median Income: $54,836 (4th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 19.1% (5th highest)
People In Poverty: 543
More on Bellows Falls: Data
The fifth poorest city in Vermont is Bellows Falls.
The city ranks as having the 4th 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 5th highest in Vermont.
Still not the best news for Bellows Falls.
6. Rutland
/10
Population: 15,747
Rank Last Year: 6 (No Change)
Median Income: $55,000 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.3% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,410
More on Rutland: Data
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. Morrisville
/10
Population: 2,527
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 1)
Median Income: $66,792 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 15.2% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 382
More on Morrisville: Data
Morrisville places as the seventh poorest city in Vermont.
The city of over 2,527 ranks as having the 8th 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. Swanton
/10
Population: 2,732
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 1)
Median Income: $71,307 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 17.6% (6th highest)
People In Poverty: 482
More on Swanton: Data
Swanton 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. Winooski
/10
Population: 8,198
Rank Last Year: 7 (Down 2)
Median Income: $77,020 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 14.3% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,175
More on Winooski: Data
Winooski couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Vermont; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 9th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Winooski ranks as having the 9th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Vermont.
10. Vergennes
/10
Population: 2,571
Rank Last Year: 10 (No Change)
Median Income: $85,417 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 11.4% (10th highest)
People In Poverty: 293
More on Vergennes: Data
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Vermont is Vergennes.
The city of 2,571 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 2025
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 2019-2023 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 12 places with more than 2,000 people in Vermont, we ranked each place from 1 to 12 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, Newport, crowned the “Poorest Place In Vermont For 2025”.
This report has been updated for 2025, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Vermont.
Summary: The Poorest Cities In Vermont For 2025
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:
-
Richest: South Burlington
2nd Richest: Montpelier
3rd Richest: Vergennes
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 | Newport | 4,413 | 21.6% | $48,194 | 954 |
| 2 | Barre | 8,461 | 19.3% | $53,288 | 1,629 |
| 3 | St. Albans | 6,910 | 20.7% | $53,370 | 1,432 |
| 4 | Burlington | 44,649 | 23.0% | $68,854 | 10,264 |
| 5 | Bellows Falls | 2,851 | 19.1% | $54,836 | 543 |
| 6 | Rutland | 15,747 | 15.3% | $55,000 | 2,410 |
| 7 | Morrisville | 2,527 | 15.2% | $66,792 | 382 |
| 8 | Swanton | 2,732 | 17.6% | $71,307 | 482 |
| 9 | Winooski | 8,198 | 14.3% | $77,020 | 1,175 |
| 10 | Vergennes | 2,571 | 11.4% | $85,417 | 293 |
| 11 | Montpelier | 8,038 | 7.3% | $79,175 | 583 |
| 12 | South Burlington | 20,488 | 8.1% | $97,229 | 1,663 |