Vermont rental market data

Only two of the four measured metros have current rent-growth readings. Their median rent increase was 3.7%, compared with a 1.4% median home-value increase across four metros. The packet reports a 2.3-percentage-point rent-over-price growth gap, but the unequal coverage means it should not be treated as a complete statewide comparison.

Barre accounts for most of the visible separation: rent rose 6.5% to $1,655 while home value rose 1.7% to $402,519. The calculated growth difference is 4.9 percentage points, and the displayed gross yield is 4.9%. Burlington was much closer to balanced, with rent up 0.9% to $2,085 and value up 0.8% to $476,142; its gross yield was 5.3%. The contrast supports market-specific rent verification rather than assuming Barre's momentum applies to Burlington or the two metros without rent-growth data.

Employment readings are weak across the measured distribution. The four-metro median was -2.6%, with the measured range between the 10th and 90th percentiles running from -2.9% to -1.1%. Burlington was the least negative named market at -0.5%, while Rutland was -2.5% and Barre was -2.6%. These readings do not prove rental demand is falling, but they reduce the value of rent growth as a stand-alone demand signal.

Migration provides a mixed counterpoint. Across all 14 counties, 17,569 people moved in and 17,943 moved out, for a net -374, or -0.6 per 1,000 residents. Yet aggregate income tied to inbound movers was $1,022,369 versus $902,297 for outbound movers, a positive gap of $120,072. The combination supports testing tenant depth and turnover assumptions directly: the small headcount loss may not describe the spending capacity of households that arrived, while the migration series also predates the current employment readings.

Across four metros, the median resale market had 5.0 months of supply, 64.5 days on market, a 21.4% price-drop share and a 98.5% sale-to-list ratio. Months of supply ranged from 3.9 at the 10th percentile to 6.1 at the 90th, while marketing time ranged from 44.8 to 68.1 days. Those figures indicate meaningful differences in exit liquidity rather than one common state condition.

Rutland is the clearest slower-exit example among the named markets: 6.6 months of supply, 69 days on market, a 19.8% price-drop share and a 96.3% sale-to-list ratio. Burlington had 3.4 months of supply and 37 days on market, although 26.9% of listings had price drops. Burlington also recorded 660 permitted units, or 2.9 per 1,000 residents. That is a counter-signal to a uniformly soft resale thesis, but permits do not establish completions, delivery timing or whether new units will be rentals.

The median ACS housing-vacancy rate across all 14 counties was 22.3%, with a 13.8% to 39.1% range between the 10th and 90th percentiles. That is vacancy across the housing stock, not a rental-vacancy or lease-up measure. The median county renter share was 23.8%, while single-family homes represented 75.8% of housing. A high overall vacancy reading may therefore reflect housing that is not available to a conventional long-term renter.

Chittenden County illustrates the local difference: overall vacancy was 4.6%, renter share was 36.1% and the ACS rent-burden measure was 50.4%. Bennington County had 28.3% overall vacancy, a 26.3% renter share and a 63.6% rent-burden reading. Their median construction years were 1981 and 1972, respectively, compared with a county median of 1975.5. These figures support separate checks on year-round availability, property condition and affordability; they do not show how many vacant units are habitable or offered for rent.

Across four measured metros, the median home value was $390,046, median monthly rent was $1,774 and median gross yield was 5.4%. Median household income was $78,387, the median rent-to-income ratio was 26.3% and the median price-to-income ratio was 5.0. Separately, the median of the metro-level Zillow-rent-to-HUD two-bedroom benchmark ratios was 110.4%, with the measured 10th-to-90th-percentile range running from 101.0% to 135.7%.

Bennington had the highest displayed gross yield at 6.0%, based on a $377,573 value and $1,893 rent, but it also had the highest named rent-to-income ratio at 31.0%. Rutland paired a 5.5% yield with a 25.6% rent-to-income ratio, while Burlington paired a 5.3% yield with 26.9%. Bennington's entry economics therefore require an affordability check rather than a yield-only ranking. All displayed yields are gross and do not deduct vacancy, maintenance, taxes, insurance, management or financing.

Inland flood is the mutually exclusive leading-hazard label for all 14 counties. This means it ranks first within each county's FEMA profile; it does not establish exposure for every parcel or imply that other hazards are absent. The median county FEMA loss ratio was 0.130%, with a measured 10th-to-90th-percentile range of 0.093% to 0.143%.

The median effective property-tax rate across 14 counties was 1.66%, with a 1.44% to 1.81% range between the 10th and 90th percentiles; the median tax amount was $4,682.50. Windsor County showed a 1.84% rate, $5,458 median tax and 0.142% loss ratio. Washington County showed 1.75%, $5,498 and 0.143%, while Essex County showed 1.76%, $3,035 and 0.158%. These county figures are operating-cost screens, not substitutes for a parcel's assessment, tax bill, elevation review or insurance quote.