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Place dossier plate
SheetVT-WELLS-RIVER-VT · Wells River, VT 339 pop · income 8th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Wells River
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wells River on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Rochester · lowest
36,932
Rochester · lowest
36,932 median HH income
24.9% of the leader · rank #1
Avenue B and C · near
40,554
Avenue B and C · near
40,554 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #2
Wells River · this city
40,556
Wells River · this city
40,556 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #3
Marenisco · near
40,556
Marenisco · near
40,556 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #4
Williamston · near
40,556
Williamston · near
40,556 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #5
Flippin · near
40,559
Flippin · near
40,559 median HH income
27.3% of the leader · rank #6
Dorset · highest
148,385
Dorset · highest
148,385 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Wells River on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 339.
Wells River ranks in the 8th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
8th
percentile, household income
30th
percentile, home value
73rd
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Wells River, VT
Wells River is a small town in Vermont, home to 339 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Wells River brings in $40,556 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 22.1%. Wells River's housing stock carries a median value of $160,800, and the median resident age is 52.4 years. About 15.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 45.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
Vermont tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Vermont scores 98.0 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,487 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Vermont run around $251, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 36.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Very Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Wells River's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from population change to schools and households to comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wells River, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Is Wells River growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +12 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.7% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
What does the education layer cover for Wells River?
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 15.4% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wells River?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
Within Vermont, the closest population matches are Lyndon Center (337 residents); Rochester (335 residents, $36,932 income); North Pownal (345 residents, $71,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Greenehaven, AZ (339 residents); Cattle Creek, CO (339 residents); Spring Ridge, FL (339 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
How far does income reach against housing in Wells River?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 4.0 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 22.1%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Wells River?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 68.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Drive alone
68.0%
Work from home
6.3%
Public transit
2.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 128 workers age 16+.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 22.1% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
98.0 (US=100)
Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Vermont average
F
City profile score · Wells River, VT
21/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Cost of living D
98.0 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
22.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$40,556
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Wells River profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 48/100 (D) · 98.0 index
Bachelor's+ share: 21/100 (F) · 15.4%
Poverty rate: 10/100 (F) · 22.1%
Household income: 8/100 (F) · $40,556
How does Wells River compare to other US cities?
Where Wells River sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income8% higher than other cities
Home value30% pricier than other cities
Median rent73% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Wells River against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Vermont only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Vermont-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Wells River near the bottom of Vermont's cities
Among the 161 Vermont cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wells River ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wells River only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#139 of 149
7th percentile in Vermont
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 161
0th percentile in Vermont
Median Home Value
#128 of 152
16th percentile in Vermont
Poverty Rate
#12 of 161
93rd percentile in Vermont
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#147 of 161
9th percentile in Vermont
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Vermont only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
8th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Wells River's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$160,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 70% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Wells River's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.0×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,606 of 15,516
More affordable than 32% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,309 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.0×, Wells River sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,606 of 15,516 and #8,309 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$40,556Wells River, VT median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wells River, VT median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Wells River, VT.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)22.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
339
Median Income
$40,556
Median Home Value
$160,800
Median Age
52.4
Poverty Rate
22.1%
Labor force participation
45.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.4%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wells River's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
437 residents
2021
443 residents
2022
449 residents
2023
449 residents
2024
450 residents
2025
449 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
68.0%
Carpool
18.0%
Public Transit
2.3%
Walk
5.5%
Work from Home
6.3%
Based on 128 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Vermont statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $251
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Vermont at $251 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $48 ).
These are Vermont statewide averages, not a meter reading for Wells River. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Vermont's BEA cost-of-living index is 98.0 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Wells River is $1,487/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Vermont statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 36.4 / 100 (Very Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Vermont statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Wells River sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wells River compares to similar-size Vermont cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, NCES CCD, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.