Montpelier vs Waterbury

A side-by-side comparison of Montpelier and Waterbury: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Montpelier has the higher population (8,038 vs 1,728 in Waterbury). Montpelier has the higher median household income ($79,175 vs $59,934 in Waterbury). Montpelier has the higher median home value ($349,200 vs $332,900 in Waterbury).

Population, income & housing

	Montpelier	Waterbury
Population	8,038	1,728
Median age	43.4 yrs	40.7 yrs
Median household income	$79,175	$59,934
Median home value	$349,200	$332,900
Median gross rent	$1,169	$984
Housing units	4,005	1,029
Homeownership rate	54.6%	38.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	66.2%	54.8%
Unemployment rate	2.6%	3.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Montpelier	Waterbury
Population	7,477 → 8,038 (+7.5%)	1,841 → 1,728 (-6.1%)
Median household income	$65,078 → $79,175 (+21.7%)	$65,347 → $59,934 (-8.3%)
Median home value	$252,600 → $349,200 (+38.2%)	$257,000 → $332,900 (+29.5%)
Median gross rent	$1,021 → $1,169 (+14.5%)	$986 → $984 (-0.2%)

Montpelier

Population

7,4778,038

Median household income

$65,078$79,175

Median home value

$252,600$349,200

Median gross rent

$1,021$1,169

Waterbury

Population

1,8411,728

Median household income

$65,347$59,934

Median home value

$257,000$332,900

Median gross rent

$986$984

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Montpelier	Waterbury
Under 5	2.3%	3.0%
5 to 17	15.3%	18.8%
18 to 24	6.5%	1.5%
25 to 34	14.4%	19.5%
35 to 44	13.8%	17.9%
45 to 54	14.9%	6.9%
55 to 64	9.0%	10.5%
65 to 74	14.7%	10.2%
75 and over	9.0%	11.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Montpelier	Waterbury
White (non-Hispanic)	87.7%	94.5%
Black or African American	1.1%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	1.7%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	5.4%	5.4%
Hispanic or Latino	4.1%	0.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Montpelier	Waterbury
No high school diploma	2.3%	0.5%
High school graduate	15.7%	16.7%
Some college or associate's	15.8%	27.9%
Bachelor's degree	34.8%	37.3%
Graduate or professional degree	31.4%	17.5%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Montpelier	Waterbury
Drove alone	56.5%	72.4%
Carpooled	4.3%	2.5%
Public transit	1.5%	0.0%
Walked	10.1%	8.3%
Bicycle	1.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	26.1%	16.9%
Other means	0.6%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Montpelier	Waterbury
1-unit, detached	47.7%	34.9%
1-unit, attached	4.4%	13.5%
2 to 4 units	25.2%	18.4%
5 to 19 units	13.6%	26.3%
20 or more units	8.0%	6.9%
Mobile home & other	1.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Montpelier	Waterbury
Poverty rate	7.3%	15.8%
Average household size	2.12	1.84
Mean commute (minutes)	19	23
Median year structure built	1952	1951