AARP’s Great Places to Live: Montpelier, Vermont

The city is the capital of culture and quietude

Bill Donahue,

AARP

Published November 19, 2025

AARP’s Great Places to Live is a list of 10 communities that have many of the qualities older people value: good health care, social opportunities, a nice climate, ease in getting around, a thriving job market and rank highly on AARP's Livability Index (learn more about the Livability Index here, including how your community ranks). One city that made the list: Montpelier, Vermont. To see more Great Places to Live, click here.

Population: 8,030
AARP Livability Index score: 68
Average monthly housing cost: $1,350
Perfect-weather days*: 104 per year

Nestled in the Green Mountains with the roiling Winooski River running through it, Montpelier is in many ways what you’d expect of Vermont’s capital: It’s a crunchy outdoor mecca with splendid hiking and skiing sites. Swimming holes also abound; everyone in town seems to have a personal favorite.

But the bonus, here in the nation’s smallest state capital (population around 8,000), is the culture. Montpelier boasts its own chamber orchestra, has an art house cinema (the Savoy Theater) and a happening music club (Hugo’s, with a resident black cat). The Montpelier Jazz Project plays a backyard gig, gratis and open to the public, every Tuesday in summer, and there’s another free concert, Parkapalooza, on the undulating green lawns of Hubbard Park.

The streets of downtown, meanwhile, are easily walkable and filled with inviting shops: The Quirky Pet, for instance, and Bear Pond Books. And the vibe is amiable, even among those who choose to wait half an hour for delectable Thai takeout at Wilaiwan’s Kitchen on State Street.

This is small-town living at its finest. “We’ve got a tight-knit community here,” Montpelier violin teacher Ruth Einstein, 66, says. “When the town flooded two years ago, so many people were out in canoes, helping their neighbors.”

Affordability

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, myriad newcomers have come to the Montpelier area to work remotely amid the quietude of the Vermont woods. Housing prices have ticked up. But Soren Pfeffer, owner of Central Vermont Real Estate, says there are still houses selling for under $275,000 in neighboring Barre, about 7 miles south of town.

Health care

The Central Vermont Medical Center, a few miles south of town in Berlin, is highly regarded and part of the University of Vermont Health Network, whose main hospital, in Burlington, is considered the state’s best regional hospital by U.S. News & World Report. Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center is about an hour away.

Culture

Montpelier is strong in the visual arts. The T.W. Wood Gallery, more than 100 years old, is at once a museum documenting Vermont’s painting history, a showcase for new work and a fun venue for art classes. There are several other galleries in town, and once every two months, local painters and sculptors showcase their work for the Montpelier Art Walk.

Outdoor activities are a mainstay. “In Montpelier,” says Jen Roberts, co-owner of Onion River Outdoors, “outdoor activity is a lifestyle, not just a recreational pursuit.”

“People ride their bikes to work; they go cross-country skiing with their dog,” she says. “This isn’t a glamorous resort. People don’t worry too much about fashion here, and they’re frugal. They’ll ride their bikes into the ground; they’ll ski until their skis delaminate.”

The relatively flat 4.5-mile Siboinebi Recreation Path along the Winooski is splendid for an easy stroll. More challenging but worth it: The State House Trail zigzags steadily uphill just behind the lovely gold-domed state house to the Hubbard Tower, offering a stunning view of the Green Mountains. The Worcester Range, home to one of Vermont’s wildest, untrammeled ridgelines, starts about 20 minutes north of town.

And of course, Vermont is known for skiing. Two superb downhill resorts are within an hour’s drive: Stowe and the old-school Mad River Glen, which eschews snowmaking, still boasts a single chairlift and bars snowboarders from its trails. Snowshoers and cross-country skiers can get their fill right in Montpelier, on the winding, wooded (and city-groomed) trails of Hubbard Park. Sleepy Hollow Inn, 45 minutes outside of town, is a ski paradise, with snowmaking, excellent grooming, top-notch lessons and a sweet rustic inn.

Getting around

Most of Montpelier’s cultural allures are situated in the compact and easily walkable downtown. Green Mountain Transit runs an extensive network of buses through Montpelier and Barre. Riders 60 and older are eligible for a discount.

Climate

Summers are humid but not sweltering, with temperatures rarely cresting 90. Vermont’s fall foliage, a medley of russets and oranges, is a stunning tourist draw. There is snow on the ground most of the winter. Meanwhile, Montpelier is in a floodplain, although the city is shoring up its green infrastructure to manage stormwater better.

Job market

AARP reported last July that Vermont is on the top 10 list of best states for older workers based on the percentage of people age 60 and older who are still working; the median household income for people 65-plus; and the number of workplace age-discrimination complaints per 100,000 workers age 45 and older. In Washington County, where Montpelier is located, the unemployment rate is low, at 2.5 percent. Major employers in the area include the National Life Group, a financial services company; the State of Vermont; Vermont College of Fine Arts; several insurance companies; and a medical center.

Going-out guide

Sunny-day location: North Branch Nature Center. Head five minutes north of downtown to find 28 acres of meadows and forests along the Winooski River. There’s a small orchard where visitors are welcome to pick pears, peaches, plums and apples for free, and an extensive network of hiking trails.

Weekday evening hangout: Barr Hill distillery. Sip some gin or rye whiskey or enjoy a cocktail made with locally sourced honey. In 2024, Barr Hill was a finalist for outstanding bar in the James Beard Awards. As you sit by the large picture windows, be sure to try the Bee’s Knees Cocktail, a combo of gin, lemon and honey that channels the Prohibition era and manages to be 100 percent Vermont.

Where to take visitors first: Montpelier is home to the Vermont State House, a gold-domed, columned structure whose hallways are floored with locally quarried marble. Its legislative chambers are charmingly compact. The breathtaking array of art on the walls includes contemporary works as well as old masterpieces, such as a giant 1870s painting of the Civil War’s Battle of Cedar Creek.

AARP initiatives

AARP Vermont volunteers lead monthly community bike rides through Montpelier, encouraging residents to get active, explore the city and learn about bike safety. Participants can also attend free bicycle mechanic workshops at Onion River Sports.

*High temperature between 60 and 85 degrees, with less than 1 millimeter of rain. Source: Yahoo News analysis of federal data

Bill Donahue has also written for Outside, The Atlantic and Yankee magazines. He lives in rural New Hampshire.

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