Counties / Vermont / Windsor County

Windsor County, VT

FIPS 50027 · population 57,990 · outside every metro area

$427k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$427k
▲ 3.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,860
▲ 6.2% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
5.2%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,362
market rent is 1.37x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+63.2%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.2%FHFA HPI2025−1.8%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$296k
Surveyed gross rent$1,118
Rent burden 30%+41.5%
Median year built1973
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
27.4%vacant
34,846estimated housing units
Occupied tenure25.2% renter
owner 74.8%renter 25.2%
Structure mix73.9% single-family
Single-family 73.9%20+ units 2.5%Mobile home 5.5%Other 18.1%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs23,189▲ 0.2% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments3,141annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$1,241▲ 2.6% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services20.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+0.2%WEEKLY WAGE+2.6%Education and health services20.2%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Windsor County presents a decision tension: usable measured rent yield sits beside conflicting price signals. Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value was $426,892, 3.24% above its prior-year reading, whereas FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI declined 1.8%. These are different methods and labeled periods, not a combined appreciation rate. Investors relying on resale support should investigate the divergence; cash-flow-focused buyers should remain cautious until property-level costs and rents are verified.

02Housing economics

The published median asking market rent is $1,860 per month and the supplied gross yield is 5.23%, calculated from annual market rent before operating costs; it does not establish net income. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $1,362 monthly, a payment standard rather than an asking-rent estimate, so it cannot replace measured rent in underwriting. The 1.84% effective property-tax rate warrants carrying-cost scrutiny, while insurance, repair, vacancy and property-specific tax-bill evidence are not published.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com MLS evidence shows 304 active listings, a 63-day median marketing time, and 11.17% of listings reduced; these are visible asking-market supply and seller-concession measures, not closed-sale prices or standalone proof of buyer demand. Investor buyers accounted for 47 of 580 purchases, a limited but identifiable competitive channel. Migration was net negative by 67 tax-return households, although incoming movers had higher average AGI than outgoing movers. That mix calls for neighborhood-level review of renter depth and owner-occupant competition rather than reading migration alone as demand.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual climate loss equals 0.14% of building value; it is a modeled exposure, not a property-specific loss estimate. QCEW figures are annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment or a forecast; Education and health services is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the entire economy. Missing flood-zone, elevation, insurance-quote, building-condition, lease, vacancy and sale-comparable evidence prevents a property-level resilience, net-yield or exit-price conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Windsor County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Springfield CDP4.2KWhite River Junction CDP3.4KWilder CDP3.1KWindsor CDP2.1KChester CDP1.3KNorwich CDP1.1KWoodstock village936Ludlow village808
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

22 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Springfield CDPCensus-designated place
    4,237
  2. 02
    White River Junction CDPCensus-designated place
    3,364
  3. 03
    Wilder CDPCensus-designated place
    3,087
  4. 04
    Windsor CDPCensus-designated place
    2,060
  5. 05
    Chester CDPCensus-designated place
    1,298
  6. 06
    Norwich CDPCensus-designated place
    1,147
  7. 07
    Woodstock villageIncorporated place
    936
  8. 08
    Ludlow villageIncorporated place
    808
  9. 09
    West Woodstock CDPCensus-designated place
    657
  10. 10
    Hartland CDPCensus-designated place
    572
  11. 11
    Bethel CDPCensus-designated place
    521
  12. 12
    South Royalton CDPCensus-designated place
    458
Show 10 more places
  1. 13
    North Springfield CDPCensus-designated place
    427
  2. 14
    Proctorsville CDPCensus-designated place
    427
  3. 15
    Hartford Village CDPCensus-designated place
    426
  4. 16
    Quechee CDPCensus-designated place
    412
  5. 17
    Ascutney CDPCensus-designated place
    381
  6. 18
    North Hartland CDPCensus-designated place
    322
  7. 19
    Rochester CDPCensus-designated place
    288
  8. 20
    Cavendish CDPCensus-designated place
    171
  9. 21
    South Woodstock CDPCensus-designated place
    79
  10. 22
    Weston CDPCensus-designated place
    52

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.142% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax1.84%

$5,458 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-67

1,802 in · 1,869 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$6,783

$81,998 arriving · $75,215 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors8.1%

47 of 580 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings304▲ 4.8% year over year
Median days on market63▲ 18.8% year over year
Listings price-reduced11.2%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 1.6% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. County median rent and gross yield may not hold after asset-specific operating costs, vacancy and tax bills.
  2. Flood exposure, elevation and insurance pricing may differ materially across individual properties.
  3. MLS listing-market measures may not translate into achievable closed-sale prices or renter demand.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

What rent measure supports the supplied gross yield?

The published median asking market rent is $1,860 per month. The supplied 5.23% gross yield is based on annual market rent before costs.

Does HUD FMR provide an alternative estimate of asking rent?

No. The $1,362 two-bedroom HUD FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of market asking rent.

Do the available price indicators point in the same direction?

No. Zillow’s 2026-06 median home value was up 3.24% year over year, while FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI was down 1.8%.