15 Safest Places to Live in Vermont – 2016

By: Jon Gavejian

| Updated: March 22, 2017

The 15 Safest Places To Live in Vermont, 2016.

About the State of Vermont

Ranked as the second healthiest state just behind Hawaii, Vermont offers some of the safest communities and best health services in the nation. According to the United Health Foundation, Vermont has the highest percentage of residents with full health insurance coverage and has shown a significant decrease in deaths caused by cardiovascular disease.

The state of Vermont earned the #1 position on our list of the Safest Places to Live in The U.S.

The state’s overall crime rate is almost half the national average based on the FBI’s most recent complete Uniform Crime Report. Violent crime across the state Vermont is less than a third of the national average with only 99.3 violent crimes occurring for every 100,000 residents. Additionally, property crime is among the lowest in the nation and over 40% below the national rate.When looking at the safest cities and towns in Vermont, the difference is even more dramatic. The national rate of violent crimes is almost 26 crimes for every 1,000 residents. In Vermont, the violent crime rate is so low the total count of violent crimes still falls well below the national rate.

What’s not to love about the Green Mountain State? Low crime, healthy population, trees as far as the eye can see (over 75% of the Green Mountain state is forest), plus they’re the largest producer of maple syrup and can count both Ben AND Jerry as residents. No wonder the state ranks as one of the happiest (and healthiest) states in the nation.

We’ve highlighted the safest towns in Vermont below.

How We Picked the Safest Places to Live in Vermont

To find the safest places to live in Vermont, we accessed the most recent complete statistics aggregated by the FBI and reviewed cities and towns with populations greater than 2,500 residents. We then compared the number of violent crime (murder, aggravated assault, robbery and forcible rape) as well as the amount for property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson and larceny) as reported to the FBI by local authorities. We calculated the rate of each type of crime per 1,000 residents and determined the overall crime rate to ascertain the relative safety of each place and rank them accordingly.

It’s important to note as you review our list of the safest places to live in Vermont that not every local law enforcement agency may have reported complete data to the FBI, so it is possible that your town may be one of the safest places to live, but without complete and accurate data, AlarmSystemReviews.com may have had to exclude it from this year’s list.

Waterbury: Vermont’s Safest Place to Live

The town of Waterbury is located in central Vermont and was named after the hometown of many early settlers who relocated from Waterbury, Connecticut. The culture and people of the area are naturally active with miles of snow packed trails at nearby Stowe Mountain to explore along with Sugarbush, Bolton Valley, and the Green Mountain Forest.

Population: 5,130

Violent Crime Rates (per 1,000): 0.0

Property Crime Rates (per 1,000): 3.5

Shelburne

Located in southwestern Vermont in Chittenden County along the shores of Lake Champlain, Shelburne is a suburb of Burlington, the largest city in the state. Burlington is considered bot h cultural and educational center of the state and is home to the University of Vermont as well as two smaller colleges.

Population: 7,601

Violent Crime Rates (per 1,000): 0.4

Property Crime Rates (per 1,000): 4.2

Hinesburg

Found in northwestern Vermont, Hinesburg is southeast of Burlington and has a history rooted in farming. With the Champlain Valley to the west and the foothills of the Green Mountain on the east, the town is noted for its bucolic vistas.

Population: 4,506

Violent Crime Rates (per 1,000): 0.4

Property Crime Rates (per 1,000): 5.3

Chester

A “quintessential Vermont town” Chester is a charming, vibrant New England community. Known as the southern gateway to the Okemo Valley, the town is located in Windsor county. Chester is famous for its Stone Village Historic District and Chester Village Historic District.

Population: 3,091

Violent Crime Rates (per 1,000): 1.6

Property Crime Rates (per 1,000): 4.2

Richmond

Located in northwestern Vermont in Chittenden county, Richmond was not settled until after the Revolutionary War by Amos Brownson and John Chamberlain in 1784, after abandoning their first attempt in 1775. As with many Vermont towns, farming and trade were cornerstones of the economy.

Population: 4,107

Violent Crime Rates (per 1,000): 0.7

Property Crime Rates (per 1,000): 6.1

#6. Northfield

Population: 6,144

Violent Crime Rate: 0.8
Property Crime Rate: 6.5

#7. Swanton

Population: 6,415

Violent Crime Rate: 1.6
Property Crime Rate: 6.1

#8. Colchester

Population: 17,346

Violent Crime Rate: 0.5
Property Crime Rate: 7.3

#9. Randolph

Population: 4,752

Violent Crime Rate: 0.2
Property Crime Rate: 8.0

#10. Windsor

Population: 3,470

Violent Crime Rate: 0.9
Property Crime Rate: 8.4

#11. Hardwick

Population: 2,963

Violent Crime Rate: 1.7
Property Crime Rate: 8.8

#12. Barre Town

Population: 7,902

Violent Crime Rate: 0.5
Property Crime Rate: 10.0

#13. Fair Haven

Population: 2,659

Violent Crime Rate: 1.1
Property Crime Rate: 11.7

#14. Milton

Population: 10,623

Violent Crime Rate: 0.7
Property Crime Rate: 13.6

#15. Brandon

Population: 3,883

Violent Crime Rate: 0.8
Property Crime Rate: 14.2

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Don’t See Your City?

If you are a Vermont resident, you may not find your city on our Top 15 (above) or expanded Top 32 rankings (below) of the safest cities for a number of different reasons. Our Safest Places rankings only show towns that had a minimum population of 2,500 and that provided complete crime data to the FBI. If your community did not meet these criteria, we were unable to include it in this year’s ranking.

1. Waterbury
2. Shelburne
3. Hinesburg
4. Chester
5. Richmond
6. Northfield
7. Swanton
8. Colchester
9. Randolph
10. Windsor
11. Hardwick

12. Barre Town
13. Fair Haven
14. Milton
15. Brandon
16. Manchester
17. Springfield
18. Hartford
19. Weathersfield
20. Winooski
21. Essex
22. Williston

23. Montpelier
24. Barre
25. Stowe
26. Bennington
27. Newport
28. South Burlington
29. Brattleboro
30. Berlin
31. Rutland
32. St. Albans

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