The Most Safest and Dangerous Cities in Vermont

Vermont Cities With the Lowest Crime Rates

On to the safest places in Vermont, Stowe takes the title of the city with the least violent crime. Known for its nearby ski slopes, the picturesque town had just 19 violent crimes per capita in one year. In 2023, that amounted to a single aggravated assault. Castleton, a city of about 5,000 people near the border of New York, has a similarly low violent crime rate of 22 per capita. One aggravated assault was the lone incident there, too.

Castleton appears again in the list of Vermont cities with the fewest property crimes. Its property crime rate is 45 per 100,000 people. When you combine both violent crime and property crime in Castleton, your chances of being victimized are less than one hundredth of a percent.

Other Vermont cities with notably low property crime rates are the tiny northwestern town of Richmond and Thetford, which is by the Connecticut River Valley. Their per-capita property crime rates are 73 and 105, respectively.

How Safe Is Vermont Compared to Other States?

If safety is a top concern for you, Vermont is a great place to call home. Its crime rates are below average in nearly every major category, sometimes by significant margins.

Here’s a look at how crime in Vermont compares to the United States as a whole.

Violent crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

Property crime rates (per 100,000 residents)

The only crime category where Vermont is above average is theft; its theft rate is 16 percent higher than in the U.S. overall.

Several factors contribute to Vermont’s moderate crime rates. One big reason is the population (or lack thereof). Vermont just doesn’t have that many people; only Wyoming has fewer residents.² Much of the state is made up of small towns, which tend to have less crime than larger cities.

Vermonters have high levels of education, which is associated with lower crime rates. Ninety-five percent of residents have at least a high school diploma, and 43 percent have a bachelor’s degree. At the national level, those rates are lower, at 89 percent and 35 percent. The resident profile in Vermont skews older, too, with a senior population 4 percent higher than the rest of the country. Statistically, older people commit fewer crimes, especially violent crimes.³

Though Vermont’s gun ownership skews higher than the U.S. average (50 percent of people have a gun in their home, compared with 44 percent of all Americans), the state has the ninth lowest rate of gun violence in the U.S.^4,5,6 This likely has to do with the culture there; many Vermonters grow up around firearms for hunting and recreation, and as a result, responsible gun use is a cultural norm.

Despite its crime numbers being comparatively better than most of the country, public officials in Vermont are keeping an eye on some concerning trends. Property crime, for example, has gone up about 7 percent year over year, and the governor recently flagged recidivism — the rate at which offenders commit additional crimes — as a chief concern. Stricter penalties for repeat offenders and measures to curb substance abuse are among the solutions the governor’s office has proposed to address rising Vermont crime rates.⁷

With its stunning natural beauty, close-knit communities, and ample year-round recreation activities, Vermont is a great place to live. Many appreciate the slower pace of life afforded by fewer residents as well as the proximity to the rest of New England and Canada. The state’s low crime profile makes it easy to find a city that suits your needs while helping you stay safe.

Where Our Crime Data Comes From

Unless specified otherwise, the information in this article is based on crime data compiled by the FBI and made available through the Crime Data Explorer. Statewide violent and property crime statistics are drawn from the FBI’s 2023 Crime in the United States Report (Table 5), while metro area data comes from Table 6, which breaks down offenses by metropolitan statistical areas. For city-level crime rates, we referred to Table 8, which lists reported offenses by state and city.

Important note: Crime statistics offer valuable insights, but they aren’t the only way to evaluate a community’s safety. Local context, law enforcement practices, and reporting standards can all influence how crime is recorded. Additionally, FBI publication tables and the data displayed on the Crime Data Explorer may differ slightly due to variations in methodology.