Benson vs West Pawlet

A side-by-side comparison of Benson and West Pawlet: population, income, housing, and more.

Benson and West Pawlet are places in Vermont. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

West Pawlet has the higher population (301 vs 191 in Benson). Benson has the higher median home value ($164,100 vs $119,900 in West Pawlet). Since 2019, West Pawlet's population has grown faster (+5.6% vs -24.5%).

Population, income & housing

	Benson	West Pawlet
Population	191	301
Median age	34.9 yrs	48.4 yrs
Median household income	$33,214	—
Median home value	$164,100	$119,900
Median gross rent	$1,094	$931
Housing units	114	137
Homeownership rate	55.7%	84.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher	1.6%	21.6%
Unemployment rate	12.3%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Benson	West Pawlet
Population	253 → 191 (-24.5%)	285 → 301 (+5.6%)
Median household income	$37,344 → $33,214 (-11.1%)	$27,105 → $28,482 (+5.1%)
Median home value	$156,900 → $164,100 (+4.6%)	$115,300 → $119,900 (+4.0%)
Median gross rent	$463 → $1,094 (+136.3%)	$778 → $931 (+19.7%)

Benson

Population

253191

Median household income

$37,344$33,214

Median home value

$156,900$164,100

Median gross rent

$463$1,094

West Pawlet

Population

285301

Median household income

$27,105$28,482

Median home value

$115,300$119,900

Median gross rent

$778$931

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Benson	West Pawlet
Under 5	3.7%	0.0%
5 to 17	19.4%	5.0%
18 to 24	10.5%	28.9%
25 to 34	16.8%	2.0%
35 to 44	7.3%	10.0%
45 to 54	9.4%	12.3%
55 to 64	8.4%	20.9%
65 to 74	5.8%	18.9%
75 and over	18.8%	2.0%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Benson	West Pawlet
White (non-Hispanic)	97.4%	95.3%
Black or African American	2.6%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	1.7%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	0.0%	0.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Benson	West Pawlet
No high school diploma	15.7%	10.6%
High school graduate	48.8%	38.2%
Some college or associate's	33.9%	29.6%
Bachelor's degree	0.0%	12.6%
Graduate or professional degree	1.6%	9.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Benson	West Pawlet
Drove alone	79.7%	87.9%
Carpooled	3.1%	3.4%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	6.3%	3.4%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	10.9%	5.2%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Benson	West Pawlet
1-unit, detached	56.1%	94.2%
1-unit, attached	0.0%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	13.2%	3.6%
5 to 19 units	9.6%	0.0%
20 or more units	0.0%	2.2%
Mobile home & other	21.1%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Benson	West Pawlet
Poverty rate	16.2%	26.6%
Average household size	2.17	2.79
Mean commute (minutes)	27	38
Median year structure built	1955	1938