Chelsea vs Wells River

A side-by-side comparison of Chelsea and Wells River: population, income, housing, and more.

Chelsea and Wells River are places in Vermont. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Chelsea has the higher population (416 vs 339 in Wells River). Chelsea has the higher median household income ($45,333 vs $40,556 in Wells River). Wells River has the higher median home value ($160,800 vs $139,200 in Chelsea).

Population, income & housing

	Chelsea	Wells River
Population	416	339
Median age	40.9 yrs	52.4 yrs
Median household income	$45,333	$40,556
Median home value	$139,200	$160,800
Median gross rent	$1,076	$755
Housing units	231	213
Homeownership rate	71.0%	51.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.4%	15.4%
Unemployment rate	8.9%	10.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Chelsea	Wells River
Population	475 → 416 (-12.4%)	468 → 339 (-27.6%)
Median household income	$51,563 → $45,333 (-12.1%)	$35,089 → $40,556 (+15.6%)
Median home value	$116,700 → $139,200 (+19.3%)	$156,300 → $160,800 (+2.9%)
Median gross rent	$680 → $1,076 (+58.2%)	$670 → $755 (+12.7%)

Chelsea

Population

475416

Median household income

$51,563$45,333

Median home value

$116,700$139,200

Median gross rent

$680$1,076

Wells River

Population

468339

Median household income

$35,089$40,556

Median home value

$156,300$160,800

Median gross rent

$670$755

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Chelsea	Wells River
Under 5	2.9%	0.6%
5 to 17	16.8%	16.2%
18 to 24	5.0%	4.7%
25 to 34	14.4%	11.2%
35 to 44	12.0%	7.7%
45 to 54	10.1%	13.0%
55 to 64	11.5%	19.5%
65 to 74	10.1%	19.8%
75 and over	17.1%	7.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Chelsea	Wells River
White (non-Hispanic)	94.7%	80.5%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	5.9%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	4.7%
Two or more races	4.8%	5.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.5%	3.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Chelsea	Wells River
No high school diploma	8.3%	19.9%
High school graduate	38.0%	46.2%
Some college or associate's	33.2%	18.4%
Bachelor's degree	16.9%	13.2%
Graduate or professional degree	3.5%	2.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Chelsea	Wells River
Drove alone	60.4%	68.0%
Carpooled	25.8%	18.0%
Public transit	0.0%	2.3%
Walked	1.9%	5.5%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	11.9%	6.3%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Chelsea	Wells River
1-unit, detached	78.8%	59.6%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	7.4%	22.5%
5 to 19 units	9.5%	15.5%
20 or more units	4.3%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	0.0%	2.3%

Poverty & households

	Chelsea	Wells River
Poverty rate	21.4%	29.2%
Average household size	2.23	2.02
Mean commute (minutes)	32	33
Median year structure built	1938	1938