What stands out worked out from the figures below

Beecher Falls has the most affordable homes ($98k median).

Ira has the most people working from home (2.3%).

What matters to you?

Pick a few. We’ll pull those rows to the top and mark which town comes out ahead on each. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Raising kidsAffordabilityOwning a homeShort commuteWorking from homeYounger crowdSettled, older crowdGrowing town

Measure	Beecher Falls	Ira
People
Population	67Lowest	381Highest
Median age	57.5±2.6Highest 33% above VT	54.1±5.5Lowest 26% above VT
	Beecher Falls and Ira are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Kids under 18	9%±40.6Lowest VT: 17.9%	10.5%±4.7Highest VT: 17.9%
	Ira and Beecher Falls are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Age 65+	32.8%±43.2Highest VT: 21.4%	28.9%±3.3Lowest VT: 21.4%
	Beecher Falls and Ira are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+	5.2%Lowest VT: 43.8%	37.1%Highest VT: 43.8%
Enrolled in collegeshare of residents	0%±21.1Lowest VT: 7%	3.4%±3.5Highest VT: 7%
	Ira and Beecher Falls are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
Cost of living
Household incomemedian	$26,042±$24kLowest 68% below VT	$71,827±$5kHighest 12% below VT
Home valuemedian, owner-occupied	$98,100±$36kLowest 69% below VT	$272,900±$18kHighest 14% below VT
Rentmedian gross, monthly	—	$942±$52 24% below VT
Property taxmedian, yearly	$2,438Lowest 52% below VT	$4,146Highest 18% below VT
Renters paying 30%+of income on rent	—	36.4%±100 VT: 48.4%
Below poverty line	10.4%Lowest VT: 10.1%	14.4%Highest VT: 10.1%
Housing
Homeownersof occupied homes	100%Highest VT: 73.2%	90.7%Lowest VT: 73.2%
Typical home builtmedian year	1950Lowest 26 yrs older than VT	1975Highest 1 yr older than VT
Getting to work
Average commuteone way	—	28 min 20% above VT
Work from home	0%±27.8Lowest VT: 16.9%	2.3%±2.2Highest VT: 16.9%
	Ira and Beecher Falls are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.
On TownTapestry
Old photos in History	None yet	None yet

VT average · Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates 2020–2024; 2010 & 2020 decennial census; NCES Common Core of Data. “±” is the Census margin of error. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. School rank compares math and reading proficiency against the state average.